#not him trying to get his students stronger and then getting them sugary things | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bobowho · 4 years

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baking with strawberries and sunshine (m)

→ pairing: byun baekhyun x reader

→ word count: 21k

→ genre: bakery au, pastry chef!baekhyun, college student!y/n, fluff, angst, smut

→ warnings: smut, slight angst, mentions of toxic relationships

→ playlist

→ summary: y/n started working at a small bakery stocked with sugary items, but never expected the sweetest thing in the world to be her boss’s smile.

→ link to ao3

The sugary aroma of freshly baked lemon macaroons was first of all, too sweet for y/n’s taste, and so overwhelming that y/n could barely focus on the paper she was trying to finish. She was sitting at a small table in a secluded corner of the bakery. y/n had been a regular ever since she discovered the place, one and a half months ago at the beginning of the semester. The interior had soft tones of ivory with gold accents, matching the warm mood of the store.

Eyebrows furrowing in frustration, she closed her laptop and pulled out her headphones from her ears, loud music quickly dimming away, and instead gentle notes of smooth jazz played in the background of the store. The struggle with writer’s block was painstakingly real.

y/n approached the counter for some coffee to help her focus. She stood about two feet away to examine the menu while the part timer working the register awkwardly waited for her to finish. From freshly squeezed grapefruit juice to a warm cup of cappuccino, the menu listed a slew of options.

“Sehun! Can you watch the oven for me?” A frantic voice came out from the back of the store, and a face popped out from the doorway between the kitchen and the counter.

y/n eyes shot towards the source of the noise and saw a man with a dark brown fringe, puppy eyes, and a slight pout begging Sehun to watch whatever he was baking at the moment.

His eyes wandered to y/n for a moment before realizing Sehun was about to receive an order, and he made a small O with his mouth in an endearing way before pulling his head back into the kitchen.

“What can I get for you?” Sehun asked.

Thinking about the quick interaction between Sehun and the other guy, y/n turned her eyes to Sehun and ordered an iced americano with an extra shot — something to wake her up.

The next day, y/n returned to the bakery, inhaled sweet fumes of pastries and bread, and sat at her usual corner so she could type away while constantly checking her word count to see how close she was to finishing her paper. She went to go order a coffee like always, but a sign caught her eye this time.

Now hiring!

Part-time

If interested, please call for the manager.

y/n was in need of a job. She was a college student terribly in debt and had almost missed the deadline for last month’s rent. The offer seemed enticing.

“Are you interested?” Someone interrupted. y/n looked up and saw the same guy yesterday with the puppy eyes, except this time he was smiling and they were in crescents.

y/n, startled by his sudden presence, stammered out the only answer that seemed adequate. “Yes..? I—“

The man’s eyes lit up at the answer and he clapped in excitement.

“Great! We’ve been looking for someone to work the shifts Sehun can’t. Oh, I’m Baekhyun, by the way.” He introduced himself to y/n cheerily. “I own this bakery! I do the managing and most of the baking. Sehun helps me here and there… Here! Here’s the application.” Baekhyun pulled out a piece of paper from behind the counter and shoved it into y/n’s hands as if she would change her mind if he didn't act fast enough.

y/n, still recovering from the quick turn of events, nodded and quickly said, “Nice to meet you Baekhyun. I’m y/n. But can I order a coffee?”

“Oh, of course, y/n. What would you like?” Baekhyun lightly grinned and waited for y/n’s answer.

Only if y/n knew she would meet the love of her life at a bakery with a boss who had the personality of sunshine and a loving pair of hands that made everything he touched sweet.

“Holy fuck, y/n.” Sehun lightly exclaimed as he watched a plume of white smoke come out of the oven as soon as y/n opened it.

y/n let out a cough before running out of the kitchen to get fresher air. Her first day at work had started off with a great first impression.

Sehun followed y/n out of the store and let out a sigh. “All you had to do was watch. The. Damn. Cookies.”

y/n shamefully looked down at her feet. “I’m sorry. I got distracted checking to make sure I counted the stock of french brioche correctly and—“

y/n saw Baekhyun walk towards them from down the street, hands full of paper bags. The bakery needed extra flour and powdered sugar, so Baekhyun had gone out earlier to get some from the grocery store.

“Guys, don’t just stand there and help me take these bags! My arms feel like they’re going to fall out!” Baekhyun yelled from afar.

Sehun and y/n hurried towards Baekhyun and each grabbed the items from his arms. Baekhyun let out a sigh of relief as he let go of a few of the bags.

“Hey Baekhyun, the batch of chocolate chips—” Sehun started to explain the situation, but Baekhyun stopped in his tracks and sniffed the air as they got closer to the bakery.

“Do I smell burnt cookies?” Baekhyun asked.

y/n cringed. “Yeah, I was supposed to be checking on them but they ended up burning…” She waited for Baekhyun to scold her for doing so poorly on her first day of work, but Baekhyun just nodded and walked into the bakery, no longer smelling sweet like it used to. A heavy scent of bitterly burnt cookies hit everyone’s noses, making them scrunch up.

Baekhyun and y/n went into the kitchen while Sehun went to keep the store’s door open to let in some fresh air.

Baekhyun saw neatly round, black circles on the baking tray and closed his eyes in disappointment. y/n was usually not the type to cry but she couldn’t help the tears forming in her eyes. She hated disappointing people, especially not her new boss, Baekhyun.

“I’m so sorry.” y/n sincerely apologized. “If you need any help baking these again, let me know. I promise not to make the same mistake.”

Baekhyun turned away from the ugly batch of cookies to look at y/n, only to be surprised to see her teary eyed and clearly upset at the situation. Baekhyun’s eyes widened at the sight of tears rolling down y/n’s face.

“y/n, it’s fine.” Baekhyun assured her. “We all make mistakes. And it’s only your first day! I promise you’ll get better over time.”

y/n still didn’t feel any better about the fact that Baekhyun would have to bake a whole new batch just because she couldn’t watch the time. It was the stupidest mistake she could’ve made.

Baekhyun reached out a hand to wipe away a tear on y/n’s cheek with the back of his finger. “Here, let me get you some tissues.” He quickly fetched a box of tissues and handed it to y/n, who was calming down now.

“How about you start setting up the tables in the store once you feel ready, okay? Again, y/n, it’s no big deal. I can just bake it again in no time! Bam! It’ll be ready to go once the store opens for the day. Other than the cookies, you’re doing a great job for your first day.” Baekhyun lightly smiled at y/n and gave her a slight nudge on the shoulder as if it could cheer her up.

y/n nodded. She didn’t understand why she felt so upset at messing up. Maybe, she just wanted to be perfect on her first day,

The rest of her shift went smoothly, and when y/n returned home after classes there was a text from Baekhyun:

[good job today! sehun and i are both happy to have you working with us. see you tomorrow!!]

y/n couldn’t help but smile at the cheeriness in the text. It made her evening slightly better.

“Hi, what can I get for you?” y/n asked the guy anxiously fidgeting in front of the counter.

He stared at y/n for a few moments before saying, “Can I have a…latte.” He wore a tattered dark hoodie and nervously bit at his lip. y/n noticed he had been coming quite often to the bakery lately.

y/n wondered what he was so nervous for but she smiled and said, “Sure thing. I’ll have it out in a few moments.”

The guy grabbed his drink and stiffly sat down at a nearby table. y/n could feel his eyes glancing up to catch a glimpse of her once every few minutes. She didn’t appreciate him checking her out which made her a bit uncomfortable — but a customer was a customer.

It was only y/n’s fifth day at work, but she already felt like it had been weeks. She’d already become strangely used to the morning sunlight streaming in through the windows, the addicting smell of cookies and pastries, and Baekhyun’s quiet humming as he busily worked in the kitchen. She breathed in the scent of freshly-baked brownies, the scent getting stronger and stronger as Baekhyun carried the tray out towards the counter.

Baekhyun. He was almost painfully adorable-looking today, with his dark hair neatly combed against his forehead and his cheeks slightly flushed from the heat of the oven. He was wearing a neat white button-down and navy blue slacks, complemented with his baker’s apron.

“Want to try one?” Baekhyun asked, placing the brownies out on the display shelf.

y/n had eaten breakfast before coming in for her shift, but she didn’t know if it could be possible to say no to Baekhyun with his puppy-like eyes. “Sure,” she replied.

He handed her a brownie, and y/n took a bite. The chewy texture and taste of warm chocolate was perfect. It was quite literally one of the best brownies she had ever tasted.

“Holy shit, that’s so good.” she blurted out, before mentally scolding herself. She wasn’t sure if Baekhyun thought it was entirely professional to swear at work.

She was pleased to hear Baekhyun’s soft chuckle. “Thank you, I’ve been perfecting that recipe ever since I opened this bakery.”

y/n looked over to see Baekhyun smiling down at her. She found herself suddenly wondering how old this man was. He looked barely older than her, and she was still a college student. He definitely looked like he could even be younger than some of the boys she’d seen on campus. Most of the boys her age acted like they could barely iron their own clothes, let alone own their own business.

“I hope this doesn’t come across as weird,” she said carefully, “but you look awfully young to be owning your own business.”

Baekhyun let out another light laugh, his puppy eyes crinkling at the corners. “Don’t worry, I get that a lot.”

“I don’t really think of myself as young, I’m twenty-five. I actually dropped out of college halfway through my second year,” he explained. “I had a huge fight with my family over it. I come from a not super well-off family, and they always wanted me to study something like finance or accounting, so I could get a stable job after I graduated — but it was always my dream to open my own bakery.”

y/n was taken aback by his response. She didn’t expect him to open up about his personal reasons for opening the bakery. She couldn’t help but admire that Baekhyun chased after his dream in exchange with stability.

“I worked multiple jobs for a few years after I dropped out, so I could save up to start this bakery. It was a bit rough at first, but the last year has been amazing. I even have some regulars now. Plus, It's been great to work with Sehun. And you now, of course.” He nudged at her side with a wink.

y/n couldn’t imagine being so passionate about something that she’d be willing to risk so much for it. She liked her psychology major at school, but not so much that she felt like it was her dream. “I wish I had something I was passionate about like that.”

Baekhyun gave her a grim smile. “I’ve learned that most people don’t find it. I see my friends from college sometimes, and some aren’t completely satisfied with their office jobs. I guess I’m just lucky that I get to do what I love for a living.”

y/n watched Baekhyun’s warm brown eyes shift through uncertainty, rejection, and accomplishment after years of hard work. She knew he’d been through pain and desolation that she could not even begin to understand. y/n wished she could’ve been there for him, supported him through all his highs and lows.

Baekhyun soon left her to bake another batch of brownies. She examined the bakery closely and saw how dear the small shop was to Baekhyun. Every inch, every corner came from countless hours working day and night to afford this place. The bakery was his everything.

A week passed, and y/n had somehow managed to not set the entire bakery on fire. There was a lot to learn, and by the end of the week y/n’s head was aching with the number of drinks and pastry recipes she’d had to memorize. y/n was in the fall semester of her last year at university and soon found herself running from class to class, only to rush to work right after. The only thing that kept her from completely exploding of stress and exhaustion was that she got to see Baekhyun and his energizing smile every time she went in for her shift.

It was a chilly Thursday morning in October. The bakery was having a lull in the usual morning rush of customers. y/n stared outside the window at the leaves in shades of red and brown clinging onto their branches, as a gust of wind flew through the streets. The air around her smelled like fall — pumpkin spice and pecan pies. Cliché, but there wasn’t any other way to describe it.

“You know, Baekhyun’s kinda weird around you,” Sehun blurted suddenly while drying espresso cups with a dishcloth. He sent a quick glance in y/n’s direction, a smirk on his face.

“What?”

“I’ve been friends with Baekhyun for a long time, and I’ve worked here for almost a year. Trust me, if I had burnt an entire batch of cookies on my first day, Baekhyun would’ve yelled at me for sure,” Sehun said confidently, turning to look y/n with a pointed look on his face. y/n nervously wiped her palm on her apron.

y/n didn’t know what to say. Baekhyun had been extremely nice to her all week, giving her only smiles and encouragement at every mistake. She had just assumed that Baekhyun was a naturally nice and patient person.

“I’m sure that’s just because you’re friends with him.” y/n managed, avoiding Sehun’s gaze.

Sehun cocked his head to the side as if in deep thought. “Maybe,” he conceded, “I do wonder why he’s so nice to you, though. He isn’t usually like this around other people. I guess the last time he acted this way was when he met his ex.”

“I—” y/n started to say, only to be interrupted by the chime of the door as it opened. Baekhyun walked in, carrying bags of coffee beans. His dark hair gleamed in the late morning light. He offered a puppy dog smile at the both of them.

“Good morning!” he said brightly, setting an armful of coffee bags down on the counter. Sehun suddenly bolted upright at the sight of his boss. Baekhyun’s appearance on a late Thursday morning usually meant that Sehun’s opening shift was over.

“That’s my cue to leave,” Sehun announced, taking off his apron and gathering his things.

“You’re not even going to say hi to me?” Baekhyun placed his hand on his chest, feigning hurt.

“I’ve got class in ten minutes!” Sehun yelled, running out the door. The door chimed again as Sehun slammed it behind him. Baekhyun stared after him, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I swear that kid thinks I’m just his friend, not his boss.”

y/n found a flush suddenly rising to her cheeks, thinking of what Sehun had said earlier. Baekhyun had been nice — maybe too nice — to her for the past week. He hadn’t said a single mean thing after she repeatedly messed up coffee orders and pastry recipes. That had been the only reason why working in this bakery had been bearable for her, when her schedule was jam-packed and exams were drawing uncomfortably close.

She spared a glance in his direction. Baekhyun was opening a bag of coffee beans, pouring the coffee beans into the espresso machine. He is awfully adorable, y/n mused. His hair was slightly ruffled from the wind outside, his eyes concentrated on the coffee bag as he carefully tipped it into the espresso machine. If she looked closer, she could see a tiny mole above the corner of his mouth. She wondered what it would be like to kiss—

Stop, he’s your boss, y/n mentally scolded herself. This job was important to her, and she didn’t want to jeopardize it by forming a stupid crush on her boss. Besides, everyone knew what a terrible idea it was to date someone you work with, let alone your boss.

“You’re being quiet today,” Baekhyun commented.

“Huh?” y/n turned to see Baekhyun standing right next to her by the counter. He was staring at her with a curious look in his eyes and a slight smile on his lips. He was awfully close to her. She prayed he hadn’t noticed the blush creeping up on her cheeks.

“I guess I’m a little tired. I’ve been really busy this week,” y/n said awkwardly.

The door chimed as a customer walked in. y/n silently thanked the gods as the customer ordered a cappuccino.

y/n made her way over to the fridge, pouring a cup of milk before absentmindedly placing the cup under the milk steamer, turning it on. She didn’t notice when Baekhyun strode over to the milk steamer to stand beside her and looked down at the cup.

“Uh,” Baekhyun said, “that’s not how you foam milk.”

y/n felt herself flush again. She couldn’t believe she had made another mistake over something so simple. After working at this bakery for a week, she couldn’t even foam milk properly. y/n really must be the worst employee any bakery has ever seen.

Before y/n could apologize, Baekhyun spoke. “Don’t apologize. It’s my fault for not teaching you properly. I thought I had gone over everything with the drinks already, but I forgot I didn’t teach you how to use the steamer.”

He reached out his hand to rest over y/n’s hand that was holding the cup. He guided her hand slightly downwards, so that the tip of the steaming wand was submerged in the milk. He murmured instructions, his face inches away from hers. She stared at the steamer as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, trying desperately not to think of the softness of his hand against hers, or the feel of his breath against her ear. She could feel her heart pound against her ribcage. Get it together, she told herself, he’s your boss.

“See how fluffy the milk became? That’s some quality foam you can use in a cappuccino,” Baekhyun declared, seemingly unaware of y/n’s panic beside him.

His hand lingered on hers for just a second after the milk finished frothing, his thumb softly grazing the back of her hand like a feather. He pulled away reluctantly.

“Now you’ll be able to make any drink that needs foamed milk!” Baekhyun said with a smile. She wondered how he managed to be so cheery all the time, despite her utter incompetence at her job.

“Thank you,” she managed. “I know I haven’t, uh, been the best at this job. You’ve been so supportive and nice to me, even though I don’t probably deserve it. I just want to say thank you for that.”

“You don’t have to thank me. There’s a lot on your plate right now. Trust me, I know how hard it is to work a job as a student. You’ll know everything by heart soon, don’t worry. I believe in you!” Baekhyun looked at her sincerely. From this close, she could see his soft brown eyes speckled with darker shades of brown. They were like a warm pool of hot chocolate in the soft morning light.

y/n and Baekhyun were interrupted in their little moment by the bakery’s door chiming open again.

As Baekhyun walked over to take the order, y/n found her mind wandering back to what Sehun had said earlier.

He was right. Baekhyun was nice to her — to the point that it made her feel a little guilty. No guy had ever treated her this well, lest a guy who was supposed to be her boss. The last time he acted like this was when he met his ex, Sehun had said. y/n suspected that Sehun had been messing around, but she couldn’t help but wonder.

For a second, she let herself think of a universe where this sweet, adorable pastry chef could ever have feelings for her. She knew it was probably impossible — these fairytale, rom-com type romances were unrealistic and tended to never happen to her. She also knew that she should be trying hard to not develop an irreversible crush on her boss right now. It was hard not to, but for just a second, she could risk falling into a daydream.

Later that day, y/n rushed from one end of the counter to another, busily getting the bakery ready for closing. Baekhyun had left a few hours ago, giving y/n a thumbs-up and smile, saying that he trusted her to do a great job. The bakery was quiet except for the sound of giant coffee jugs emptying into the sink and the soft jazz music playing in the background as y/n worked. There was only one customer still remaining in the bakery, a man sitting at a table, staring down at his phone.

y/n glanced up out of the big window that looked out onto the dark streets. The sun had started setting earlier as the weather turned colder, and the sky was deepening from a shade of navy blue into pitch black. She freely hummed to the music playing in the background as she wiped down the counter. She looked up at the clock behind the counter, marking 9PM. It was closing time.

The man sitting at the table was still hunched down, looking at his phone. y/n awkwardly cleared her throat.

“Um, excuse me…but the bakery is closing right now.”

The man turned his head. He looked slightly older than y/n, but still young. His overgrown dark hair fell slightly into his eyes as he blinked at her with a slight blush on his cheeks. He wore an oversized black hoodie and black skinny jeans. She recognized him as the guy who had been visiting the bakery so often.

“Oh, okay. I’ll leave, then.” he said, barely a whisper. He got up, pushed the chair in, and left.

As the door closed shut, y/n let out the breath she had been holding in unknowingly. She was always a bit nervous when she was by herself during a night shift, with a single customer in the bakery. Especially if the customer was a man sitting by himself.

y/n finished up her job, double checking everything before she gathered her things and locked the bakery door behind her. The sun had completely set, the sky black and only lit by the streetlamps lining the narrow street. The bakery was on a small street near the main campus of her university, only a few blocks away from her apartment.

She clutched her canvas bag to her side as she began making her way down the street. She walked about a block or so before she noticed a man following behind her. She slightly turned her head and saw the same man who had just left the bakery.

A panic rose in her stomach. The man had left the bakery several minutes before, long enough that he should’ve been long gone from this street. He must’ve waited outside until I was done, she thought. She felt another bubble of fear rise up inside her. She was reminded of countless stories about her friends, being followed by men late at night in the city streets, having to call someone to pick them up out of fear or even call the cops.

She looked back again as she turned a corner. The man was still following her. He looked terrifying in the dark, his face completely hidden under the shadow of his hoodie and his fast strides threatening to catch up to her any second.

y/n reached for her phone in her bag, frantically thinking of people she could call. Most of her friends lived on the other side of campus, and they would take at least fifteen minutes to walk over to her. She helplessly raked through her brain, thinking of people she knew that lived near her. Then she remembered Baekhyun three days ago, mentioning that he lived a block away from the bakery and didn’t need to take the bus when Sehun complained about the crowded bus ride from his apartment.

She dialed his number without thinking twice.

“y/n?” Baekhyun’s voice rang out after a few moments. “Are you heading home now? How was your closing shift? You probably did great, so don’t even—”

“Where are you right now? Are you close yet?” y/n spoke louder than usual, making sure the man trailing behind her could clearly hear. She wondered if her voice sounded as nervous on the phone as she was feeling on the inside. She spared another glance backwards to see the man still walking behind her, less than half a block away from her.

“y/n? What do you mean? I’m—”

“It’s like, so dark out. Please don’t be late picking me up like last time.”

“...where are you, y/n?” Baekhyun’s voice, deep in concern, answered over the phone.

“Our usual spot. Like a block away from the bakery.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in two minutes.”

Two minutes? y/n was sure he was at least five minutes away if he was lucky. She stopped underneath a streetlamp and heard the footsteps from behind cease. She crossed her arms and thought about the pepper spray she had left back in a drawer in her bedroom. She remembered her dad giving it to her before leaving for college and making her promise him that she would carry it. Never did y/n think something like this would actually happen.

A minute had passed. The footsteps resumed unexpectedly and began to approach her. y/n’s heart raced even faster. She didn’t dare look behind her. Instead, she reached inside her pocket to fish out her apartment key. She recalled reading somewhere that keys could be wedged between the fingers and used for self defense.

“y/n!” Before she could pull a move on her stalker, she heard Baekhyun call out her name and looked down the street, watching him running as fast as he could, strands of hair flopping against his forehead. She barely recognized him in his hoodie and sweatpants, his hair damp as if he had just stepped out of the shower.

The stalker was clearly surprised by the sudden interference. y/n could see him slowly back away in her peripheral vision.

As Baekhyun approached, y/n couldn’t help but feel relieved to see his face. His features became clearer when he arrived under the yellow toned streetlamp. He grabbed y/n by the arms as soon as he was close enough to reach for her.

“Baby, did you wait long? I’m so sorry.” Baekhyun leaned down to look at y/n’s face and pouted his lips to express how bad he felt about being late when in fact, it had taken him only a few minutes to get to y/n from his apartment.

Baekhyun then put his arms around her, squeezing her body close against his, and y/n could feel his heart pounding against his chest. The smell of fabric softener mixed with strawberry-scented body wash engulfed y/n as half of her face got buried in Baekhyun’s hoodie.

Was Baekhyun trying to act like her boyfriend?

“Baekhyun, you don’t have to—”

Baekhyun lowered his face next to y/n’s and quietly whispered just for them to hear. “I called the police. They’re going to be here any minute.”

He raised his voice again. “Let’s get you home. I missed you all day! I’ll give you a lot of kisses to make up for it.”

y/n turned her head a little to the side to look at the street behind her. The stalker was walking away from them quickly, disappearing behind a corner. y/n felt her body relax a little when she could no longer see him anymore.

Baekhyun’s arms remained tight around her, even as the street became silent and they could no longer hear the footsteps of the stalker behind them. y/n could feel the brush of his hands against her back as she buried her face in his shoulder.

Now y/n’s heartbeat was louder than Baekhyun’s. It was thrumming in her ears and she became worried that Baekhyun could hear it too.

“I think you can let me go now.” y/n muttered, her voice muffled by the fabric of Baekhyun’s hoodie.

“I can feel you shaking, y/n.” Baekhyun quietly said.

y/n raised her hand that had been hanging limply by her side. She saw it tremble against the dim glow of the streetlamps beside her.

Cue the police, sirens came blaring down the street, but y/n was sure the sound of her heartbeat was louder.

After a short interrogation by the police on the incident, y/n and Baekhyun silently climbed up the stairs of her three-story walkup. He had insisted that he at least walk her home, seeing how pale and shaky she had been after the incident.

When y/n and Baekhyun arrived at her door, y/n awkwardly pulled out her apartment key.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Baekhyun carefully asked.

y/n nodded hesitantly to assure him, “It’s late. You should head home too.”, but she wasn’t actually okay. She was scared. Her hand was still shaking and she could barely manage to fit her key through the keyhole.

“Okay,” he said hesitantly, “if you need anything, let me know.” He pulled his lips into a slight grin and waited for y/n to get into her apartment.

She stepped in and lingered for a moment before turning back around. “Actually…can you stay for a little bit? I don’t think I can handle being alone right now.”

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows at the sudden change of heart. He nodded and said, “Of course.”

y/n instantly regretted her decision as soon as they both stepped into her apartment. She saw a million things in disarray. She quickly snatched up a stray bra on the couch before throwing it under a pillow before Baekhyun could see.

Baekhyun didn’t seem to notice the state of her apartment. His gaze remained on her pale face as he reached over and grabbed a knitted blanket, haphazardly thrown over her couch. He walked over and wrapped it around her shoulders like a shawl.

“I’ll stay in your living room. Is that okay?” Baekhyun sat down on the floor at the base of the couch.

“Yeah.” y/n answered before heading into her bedroom to get ready to wash and take a shower.

y/n stepped out of the shower and changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants. She could smell something sweet wafting down the hallway leading to the living room. It reminded her of the bakery, but not quite.

“I hope you don’t mind that I used your kettle. I saw a pack of hot chocolate lying on your counter and I figured you could use a cup.” Baekhyun held up a mug, steam rolling off into the air. The air filled with her favorite chocolate scent.

y/n sat down on the opposite side and relished the warmth of the cup of hot chocolate in her palms. She sipped on the warm, sugary drink.

“Thank you so much, for everything.” she said after a long, comfortable silence. She glanced over the mug at his face, still scrunched up with concern.

He waited until y/n fished her cup. “You should sleep now.”

y/n nodded in agreement. “You can go home if you would like.”

Baekhyun just lightly smiled and waved at her to go sleep in her bedroom. “I can sleep on the couch. Goodnight, y/n.”

y/n climbed into bed and pulled her covers up to her chin. There was no way y/n was sleeping with Baekhyun in her living room. As comfortable as Baekhyun made y/n feel, his presence made her nervous, but not in a bad way. The more she thought about it, the harder it was to sleep. Finally, after much contemplation, y/n pulled out her phone and called Baekhyun for the second time that night.

He answered after a few seconds. “Hello?”

“I can’t sleep.”

Baekhyun hummed before saying, “Okay, what do you need. A lullaby?”

y/n thought he was joking, but Baekhyun patiently waited for her response.

“Sure..? You aren’t joking, are you.”

“It’s up to you.” Baekhyun answered.

“Do you want to come in?” y/n heard a knock on the door shortly and watched Baekhyun walk in. She took a hand and patted the empty space next to her on the bed, indicating for Baekhyun to sit down. She felt the side of the bed sink as he settled on top of the blanket.

Baekhyun had a beautifully soft voice that waved through the air like the smell of freshly made brownies. Something about it made y/n’s heart swell. He effortlessly made y/n start to feel sleepy with the gentle tone of his voice. y/n clung onto every note as she fell deeper into sleep, Baekhyun’s sweet lullaby dimming into a distant melody in the background. y/n couldn’t remember if she felt a hand, just as soft as his song, delicately stroking her hair until she fell asleep.

y/n woke up with a start. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the sunlight pouring in through her curtains. Her head swarmed with the memories of the previous night, of Baekhyun’s arm around hers, of Baekhyun’s presence in her bedroom. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought. She craned her head up at the side of the bed Baekhyun had been laying on the night before. It was empty. He must’ve left after she fell asleep.

Then she wondered why she had woken up without the sound of her alarm blaring in her ear.

Crap, crap, I slept through my alarm, she thought in panic. She had worked the closing shift the night before, so it must be Friday. Shit, my morning shift.

She flailed her arms out of the mound of blankets she was buried under and grabbed her phone on the nightstand. It was 7:30AM, thirty minutes after the beginning of her usual morning shift. She let out a curse again as she scrolled through her messages, expecting a series of texts from Baekhyun demanding of her whereabouts. She was only met with a single text from him:

[are you coming in for your shift today? if not, i got it covered.]

y/n was not about to miss her shift, especially when she had inconvenienced Baekhyun so much the night before. She hurriedly hopped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. She shoved a toothbrush in her mouth, washed her face, and ungracefully pulled on a pair of jeans. She decided the worn down white t-shirt she had on overnight was good enough for work.

As she opened the door to bolt down to the bakery, she remembered she still had her toothbrush wedged between her teeth. She ran back inside with her shoes still on her feet and quickly washed the foamy toothpaste out of her mouth.

y/n arrived at the bakery two minutes before the clock hit 8:00 AM, the opening time. Heavy breaths left her lungs from speed walking down the street and trying not to run into busy pedestrians at the same time.

“...you stayed?! Baekhyun, are you kidding me.” Sehun’s aggravated voice could be heard as soon as y/n entered the store.

“Listen, Sehun. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I left as soon as—” Baekhyun was seemingly trying to calm Sehun down.

y/n interrupted their conversation with a greeting, “Good morning! I’m so sorry I’m late. I got here as fast as I could.”

Sehun glared at y/n. On the other hand, Baekhyun looked happy to see her.

“y/n! So glad you could make it. Did you sleep well?” Baekhyun asked while y/n grabbed her apron from behind the counter.

With a hushed voice, y/n responded, “Yeah, thank you so much. I’ll make last night up to you somehow.” She was scared Sehun might overhear their conversation.

She waited for Baekhyun’s response, but he just stared at her, a slight frown forming on his face.

“Baekhyun? Is something wrong?”

“Hold on,” Baekhyun murmured. He then reached out a hand towards her, y/n flinching slightly at the motion. He rubbed his thumb across the corner of her mouth, wiping away a streak of dry toothpaste.

“You got toothpaste right there.” Baekhyun held up his hand for y/n to see and smiled mischievously.

“Oh.” y/n couldn’t help but slightly get red in embarrassment.

She glanced behind Baekhyun to see Sehun standing behind them. Sehun met her eyes and pretended to gag.

Her day went by surprisingly quickly. Her mind occasionally wandered from the stalker to the thought of Baekhyun’s hand in her hair last night and on her mouth this morning, but she was able to push it out of the way as she tied her hair and greeted a customer walking into the bakery.

At the end of her shift, y/n quickly headed back home. She sat down at her desk to get a little bit of studying done for her upcoming exams. She was walking over to her kitchen for her second cup of coffee of the day when she took a look outside her apartment window. The sun was already setting over the horizon, painting the sky in shades of bright pink and orange.

It was her friend’s birthday, and she was planning to go out tonight, finally a break from school and work. y/n changed into a mini skirt and a warm navy sweater, so that she wouldn’t freeze to death on a fall night.

y/n arrived at the bar where her friend had booked a room for a party and was met with an excited harmony of greetings and a slam of a hug from the birthday girl, Joohyun.

“y/n! You finally escaped from work!” Joohyun exclaimed.

y/n smiled and took in a shot of tequila someone just handed her. The bitter tang made her wince, but Joohyun was right. She decided to let loose for the night.

After a few more shots in, y/n was ready to go home. She could not pay any attention to any of the conversations that were going on during the party. The music was too loud in her eardrums and the lighting made everything harder to see. y/n’s senses were failing her.

Suddenly, someone called for her.

She turned towards Joohyun who eagerly opened her mouth, “How is your love life? Seulgi over here got cheated on last month. Yerim just started dating like yesterday. Seungwan is getting fucked left and right. I’m…single as fuck!” Joohyun giggled, clearly drunk. “What about you, y/n? Let me in on the tea.”

y/n wondered if she had any romantic interests right now. She was too high on the alcohol to think before she spoke.

“Hmmm, I think…I find this one guy kinda cute,” y/n felt her face flush, as if it wasn’t red enough already.

“Oh my, who is it?!” Joohyun nearly squealed and brought the attention of others.

y/n didn’t know if it was okay to talk about how she was lowkey hitting on her boss, but it was too late now. “My boss.”

A hushed gasp left Joohyun’s lips. “The guy at the bakery? With the cutest fucking eyes? Oh my goodness, you do realize, like, half the girls on campus think he’s cute too, right?”

y/n was slightly shocked at the news, but after all, the bakery was just right outside campus so most of their customers were college students.

“I didn’t realize…” y/n stopped for a few seconds before asking, “Do you think he has a girlfriend right now?” y/n doubted it, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

Joohyun shrugged and let out another set of giggles. “Please get with him. You guys would be so cute together. Maybe you can convince him to give me free brownies. They’re so good.”

y/n blushed at the thought and downed a shot of lemon flavored vodka that bit at the back of her throat.

Later that night, y/n was startled by the sound of her doorbell. She stumbled towards the door, puzzled. Her friends usually didn’t randomly pop into her apartment without earlier notice, and she wasn’t expecting any packages this late into the night. Each step got harder and harder to balance on — she was not in the right state of mind to greet guests at the moment.

She stood on tiptoes to look out the peephole. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized it was Baekhyun.

She quickly shimmied her skirt to its original position so she wouldn’t scare Baekhyun by flashing him, and combed through her hair with her hands a few times. She opened the door to reveal a concerned Baekhyun shifting anxiously on his feet. A look of relief washed over his face when he saw y/n, but returned to looking worried when he saw how disheveled she was.

“Baekhyun? What are you doing here?” y/n asked groggily, although she was more than happy in his presence. She noticed he was hugging a large picnic basket.

Baekhyun looked at y/n with puppy eyes. Cute, cute, cute., y/n thought.

“I wanted to make sure you got home safely, but you weren’t answering your phone.”

y/n’s heart stupidly fluttered at the fact that Baekhyun was worried for her. “I just went out for the night. Friend’s birthday.”

She pointed at the picnic basket Baekhyun was holding so dearly. “What’s that?”

Baekhyun grinned shyly. “I…I didn’t want to come empty handed if you were home, so I brought a few things.” His smile widened when she met his eyes, his eyes crinkling into endearing crescent shapes again. Even though she was surprised by his sudden appearance, she couldn’t help but return his smile.

“I figured you might miss being around so many pastries tomorrow, since you have the day off.” Baekhyun said. He opened the picnic basket to reveal an arrangement of cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and every other pastry y/n could ever dream of.

y/n gasped. “Baekhyun, you didn’t have to—”

“I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.” Baekhyun said firmly. “Can I come in?”

“O-of course.” y/n opened the door wider, taking the picnic basket from him to set down on her dining table. y/n could still feel the booze making her feel like she was floating, but at this point she wasn’t sure if it was Baekhyun or alcohol that was making her head feel dizzy and heart rate elevated.

Baekhyun walked into her living room, standing in the space he had been in less than 24 hours ago. He looked strangely at home, standing in the middle of her still-messy apartment.

“I’m going to miss having you around tomorrow.” he said.

“Oh, it’s only a day. I’m sure Sehun will keep you company.” Of course, y/n knew that wasn’t the real reason he’d showed up to her house with a picnic basket. He was worried about her. She had been in bad shape last night, pale and shaking in Baekhyun’s arms even as the police crowded around them. She had barely managed to fall asleep, only able to drift off to the sound of Baekhyun’s soft singing voice.

y/n still couldn’t fathom why anyone, especially someone as attractive as Baekhyun, would care so much about her. She’d never had a guy treat her so well, to the point he would show up at her door with a giant basket full of sweet pastries just to cheer her up. The thought of Baekhyun, carefully gathering each pastry at his bakery to pack into this picnic basket, made her heart ache. She suddenly felt a sting in her eyes and an urge to tear up. Don’t, she warned herself. She had cried in front of him once, and that was already far too many times.

Unfazed by y/n’s sudden silence, Baekhyun casually started talking about what had happened at the bakery after her shift.

“You won’t believe what happened after you left today. Sehun completely messed up the ingredients for the pound cake recipe. I told him it’s three cups of flour, like, five times, but guess what he did. He only added one! I swear, he does it on purpose to spite me sometimes. Then he has the audacity to blame the whole thing on me…”

Baekhyun’s voice faded out into a soft hum in y/n’s ears as she was suddenly overcome with thoughts of Baekhyun that she had pushed to the back of her mind all day. Thoughts of the soft touch of his hand against her back as he held her close to him, the gentle pressure of his fingers as they stroked her hair, his impossibly sweet voice, lulling her to sleep, rushed to the forefront of her mind. The scent of fresh laundry and strawberries that waved through the air with Baekhyun’s every movement didn’t help, either.

“...and then, if that hadn’t been enough, he has the nerve to accidentally spill the bowl of egg yolk on the floor. I almost slipped on it and fell straight on my face in front of everyone. I’m this close to firing this kid, I swear. I would’ve fired him a long time ago if he wasn’t such a good friend.” Baekhyun continued to speak, oblivious to y/n getting more and more flustered by the second.

“Anyways, enough about me and Sehun. How was your day? I see you’ve been studying.” Baekhyun gestured at the huge pile of notebooks and papers that had gathered on top of her small desk by the window.

He looked so lovable in that moment, standing there in her apartment with his hair casually ruffled. His eyes glimmered as he gazed down at her, his lips twisting up to form another smile that made y/n’s stomach fill with butterflies. He was so close, close enough that she could see the tiny mole in the corner of his mouth once again. If she looked closer, she could see another one on the apple of his cheek. She wondered what it would feel like to kiss him.

Before she could even comprehend what she was doing, she was reaching up on her tiptoes, placing her palms on the sides of his cheeks. She leaned in and pressed her lips against his. Baekhyun made a surprised noise in response. The comforting scent of fabric softener and strawberries became even stronger when she kissed him, but she could smell something sharp and sweeter…was it cinnamon? y/n kissed Baekhyun for a moment longer to make sure, and he let her, holding her arms to keep her there.

When y/n realized what she was doing, she pulled back, breaking their kiss.

“Shit, shit, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that—” she stammered. She couldn’t believe she had the balls to kiss her boss out of pure impulse. She kept her eyes fixated on her feet in embarrassment. When she gathered the courage to look at Baekhyun, she was surprised to find that his face was shaded in a bright shade of pink, the color that she was expecting her own face to be. He was looking at y/n with a confused look on his face.

“Uh, I should probably head home,” he said nervously. y/n could see his gaze slightly waver. “I hope you like the pastries…I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Baekhyun rushed across her living room before she could say anything. He shut the door behind him and he was gone.

y/n cringed as she heard her door close shut. Guilt and shame built inside her. She had thought her feelings for Baekhyun had been just a harmless crush, something that she could get over in a few weeks if she tried. She hadn’t expected herself to actually make a move, let alone try to kiss him. How was she going to face him on Monday?

She trudged to her bedroom, flopped down on her bed, and buried her head in her pillow. y/n couldn’t stop her mind from thinking about her lips eagerly pressed against Baekhyun's. She let out a groan. The lingering scent of fabric softener, strawberries, and pastries…Baekhyun was making her feel lightheaded.

A week had gone by, with neither Baekhyun nor y/n willing to talk about the kiss. Only short, formal conversations were exchanged between the two. In fact, Baekhyun seemed to avoid her at all costs, his face turning scarlet whenever she was around and refusing to make eye contact. He shied away from every possible interaction with her.

Baekhyun also seemed to be making an unusually large amount of mistakes around the bakery in the past week. Spilling drinks all over himself had become a daily occurrence, to the point where Sehun stood by with a mop in his hand every time Baekhyun received a drink order. A few days ago, he had knocked over an entire tray of freshly made eclairs onto the ground. Sehun walked on to the scene and saw a horrifying mess of custard and pastries. He shook his head in disappointment.

“Baekhyun. You’re making rookie mistakes I don’t even make anymore.” Sehun harshly commented. “Is something up? Last time you were this unfocused was when Mina broke up with you.”

y/n was pretty sure the mistakes he’d been making all week had something to do with the fact that she had kissed him. She felt extreme guilt in the pit of her stomach. He probably felt so uncomfortable around her, but he was too nice to fire her or even say a single word about it.

One afternoon, as she reached the bakery, she could hear Sehun’s incredulous voice ringing out from the propped open door. “She kissed you?”

y/n flushed. They were talking about her. She heard a furious shushing noise from Baekhyun.

“What the fuck, Baekhyun? When did this happen?”

“Like, a week ago?”

“And you didn’t think to tell me? I fucking knew something happened between you guys! You’ve been acting like a complete idiot around her all week. You know how nauseating it is for me to watch you guys make heart eyes at each other all day, only for you to not make a single move?” Sehun sounded exasperated. “I swear to god, if you spill another drink because you’re too busy staring at her, I’m going to quit—”

Sehun stopped talking once he saw y/n walk through the door. Baekhyun looked up, his face turning the usual shade of pink when he saw her.

“Hi,” she said nervously.

“Good afternoon.” Baekhyun said, his hair falling slightly into his eyes as he looked back down at his hands. Sehun took a look at y/n, then at Baekhyun, before letting out an annoyed groan.

“y/n, get your ass over here. I need help in the kitchen.” Sehun announced, making his way into the kitchen without another word.

y/n gave Baekhyun an awkward smile before she followed Sehun into the kitchen. Sehun was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, a frown on his face.

“What do you need help with?” she asked.

“Our boss is in love with you, fix it.” Sehun said too casually.

“What?”

“I’m just kidding, I don’t actually know if he’s in love with you yet. He definitely likes you, though.” Sehun said, sparing a glance out the kitchen door to look at Baekhyun. “He’s been acting like a dumbass all week. Because of you.” Sehun pointed a finger at her.

y/n’s head spun. She doubted that Baekhyun even had an ounce of feelings for her, but she remembered that Sehun had known Baekhyun for far longer than she had. If Baekhyun had feelings for her, even by a slim chance, then surely Sehun would know. She felt a sliver of hope rise in her chest.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she muttered, but Sehun gave her an incredulous look.

“I pretend I don’t give a shit ninety percent of the time, but Baekhyun is one of my oldest friends. He had a really bad breakup a couple years ago, and he hasn’t been the same ever since. I don’t think he’s had a single girlfriend since then. I just—” Sehun trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. “I care about him, okay? I want him to find someone, so if you’re the one he’s into, then I wish you would give him a chance. That’s all. Not that you have to, of course. I completely understand if you don't. He can be a shithead sometimes.”

“What are you guys doing in there?” Baekhyun’s voice sounded from the counter.

“Just think about it.” Sehun sighed before walking over to the register, leaving her standing in the middle of the kitchen, more confused than ever.

The rest of the shift went by swimmingly. Sehun left a couple hours later to head to class, giving her a knowing look before heading out. y/n felt both anticipation and nervousness at the thought of being alone with Baekhyun. The bakery was completely empty, save for a couple sitting in a secluded booth in the back.

Baekhyun was in the kitchen, staring at a batch of cookies that was almost ready to come out of the oven. You should at least talk to him, y/n told herself words of encouragement. Despite what Sehun had said, y/n wasn’t entirely sure that Baekhyun actually liked her romantically. After all, he hadn’t kissed her back that night. That’s because you pulled away before he could even do anything, reasoned a small voice in her mind. She shook the thought away. She couldn’t make any assumptions before she talked to him. The last thing she wanted to do was make him uncomfortable.

She slowly made her way into the kitchen. “Um, can I talk to you?” she asked.

Baekhyun looked up and nodded. He looked absolutely adorable, as he usually did, with his hair slightly ruffled right above his dark eyebrows and his light blue button-down slightly wrinkled under his apron.

“Hey, I realized we haven’t been able to talk to each other recently.” y/n cringed as she said. “And I bet it’s because I, uh, kissed you that night when you came to my apartment. I just wanted to say sorry again, that was so unprofessional of me, and I shouldn’t have done that. I really like working here, so I hope you don’t fire me or anything, but if you want to, I completely understand.”

Baekhyun looked completely dumbfounded. He stared at her with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open a little.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve been avoiding me all week! You barely talk to me, even when it’s only the two of us here, and you wouldn’t even look at me! I…I just feel like I’ve made you feel so uncomfortable, with, you know, what I did. I’m so sorry. If you want to pretend it never happened, that’s fine with me. I just wanted to apologize—” y/n nervously kept rambling on and on, fearing what was to come next. Her face was a bright red by now, she was sure of it. She wiped her palm on her jeans, wondering if the rising heat of the room was because of the oven, or if it was just her imagination.

Baekhyun shifted a few steps closer to her. y/n could barely manage to look up at him.

“Why in the world would I fire you? I love having you here, you never have to worry about that.” he said sincerely. “And besides, I don’t want to pretend it never happened.”

“W-what?” she could only manage to say.

Baekhyun was getting noticeably red. “I said, I don’t want to pretend it never happened.”

y/n’s brain ceased to work. They stood in silence as she struggled to comprehend what Baekhyun had just said.

“Can we kiss again, or was that a one time thing?” he asked, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

Baekhyun nervously bit the bottom of his lip, his mole more apparent above his mouth now, reminding y/n of that night again. y/n’s heart was doing jumping jacks in her chest. No, she wouldn’t mind kissing Baekhyun a few more times.

“Yes,” she answered, “we can kiss again.”

He closed the gap between them in seconds. He reached out to gently cup her face in his hands, his brown eyes boring into hers. He craned his head down to lightly brush his lips against hers. y/n held her breath as Baekhyun shifted slightly to fit her lips better. His hands trailed down from her face, coming to rest on her sides. She felt herself sigh against his mouth as she stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck, feeling his soft lips against her.

He tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss, his tongue sweeping across her lips and parting her mouth. She thought she heard something ring in the background, but she forgot about it instantly when she lightly bit at Baekhyun’s bottom lip, and he let out a quiet moan in the back of his throat.

“I think the cookies are burning,” y/n managed to say between a mess of their lips when the room started to fill up with smoke. Baekhyun reluctantly pulled back, his hands still gently gripping her sides.

“Oh, no.” he groaned, burying his face in the nook where y/n’s neck and shoulder met. He opened the oven, letting a gush of smoke blow out.

“Reminds me of your first day here.” Baekhyun commented playfully.

“I was surprised you didn’t fire me on the spot.” y/n cringed.

“You were too cute to fire over some burnt cookies.” He gave her a shy smile before taking the cookies out. They were burnt to a crisp once again. At least this time it wasn’t all her fault.

y/n had just plopped down onto her couch after a long day at school when her phone started ringing. Her stomach fluttered with butterflies when she saw the name Baekhyun flashing on her phone screen.

“Hi, Baekhyun,” y/n answered.

“y/n, are you free this weekend?” Baekhyun asked.

y/n thought about her schedule for a few seconds before answering. “Hm, I don’t have a whole lot to do. I just finished this big assignment today, thank god.”

“Great! Well…” Baekhyun hesitated. “Would you like to come over? I can make us dinner, maybe watch a movie…”

“I would love to!” y/n said a little too enthusiastically, a silly smile taking over her face.

“Does Saturday at seven sound good?”

“Mmhmm,” she hummed, trying to imagine Baekhyun with the same goofy smile on his face. Her heart warmed at the thought.

“It’s a date.” he added before hanging up. y/n’s breath caught in her throat. She tried her very best to not squeal with excitement like a teenager.

The rest of the week seemed to pass by in a blur as she counted the days to her date with Baekhyun. Before she knew it, she was nervously standing in front of Baekhyun’s door, waiting for him to answer. It’s only Baekhyun, she told herself reassuringly, you literally see him every other day.

y/n’s heart still did flips in her chest when Baekhyun answered the door, inviting her in with a sunny smile. He looked handsome as usual, with his hair styled and a baby blue sweater comfortably hugging his lean figure. His apartment was small but cozy, not much bigger than hers. Soft browns and blues adorned parts of the apartment. She could see touches of his personality around the place, from a framed photo of him with Sehun and two other guys, to a colorful apron hanging on a hook by the kitchen. y/n hadn’t realized that Baekhyun’s apartment would smell exactly how he did, except the fragrance of strawberries stood out more intensely over the smell of fresh laundry.

She walked in a little further to be met with a table with two plates of roasted steak and vegetables, softly lit by candlelights.

“I hope you like the menu.” Baekhyun commented. There was no way y/n wasn’t going to like the menu — she already knew she was going to love everything Baekhyun cooked.

“Wow, Baekhyun. This looks really good.” y/n complimented him as he pulled out a chair for her. She sat down, admiring not only the food, but also the beautifully set table with a small floral centerpiece.

“I would make an amazing house-husband.” Baekhyun said with a wink, making her chuckle.

“Shall we dig in?” y/n asked, fork and knife ready in her hands.

Baekhyun nodded. He waited for y/n to cut a small piece of her steak and put it in her mouth.

“Is it good?” Baekhyun looked at y/n, anxiously waiting for an answer.

“I haven’t even started chewing,” y/n said, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Oh.” Baekhyun’s face reddened as he realized hadn’t given her the chance to fully taste her food before asking.

After a few moments, y/n’s eyes widened at the tenderness of the steak. It was seasoned perfectly, too. “It’s delicious,” she complemented, “maybe you should’ve opened a restaurant instead of a bakery.”

“I learned how to cook from my grandma,” Baekhyun explained, “she lives in Gangwon-do! I visit her every now and then.”

This was y/n’s first time hearing about Baekhyun’s family. She listened with curiosity.

“She makes amazing Korean dishes, but I swear she can cook the best steak. She can do Chinese, Japanese, Italian…the list goes on. My personal favorite is her soybean paste stew.”

y/n watched Baekhyun get lost in the thought of his grandmother and her cooking. It was sort of endearing and y/n could imagine Baekhyun adorably waiting at the dinner table for his grandmother to bring out delicious plates of his favorite food. “Wow, I can only imagine.”

“You should come with me to visit her sometime.” Baekhyun commented casually.

y/n’s heart stirred as she wondered what that could mean for them.

The meal went by pleasantly, filled with soft laughter and conversation. Baekhyun fondly mentioned how he had known Sehun for years, and y/n’s eyes sparkled in interest; she had always wondered how he and Sehun had become so close.

“You and Sehun seem really close — close considering you guys work together, I mean.”

Baekhyun nodded. “We grew up together back when I lived with my grandma. My parents were busy working 24/7, so they thought it would be better to have her take care of me. Sehun lived next door to our place until I had to move out for college, so I guess it was natural that we grew close.”

y/n had no clue that their relationship went far back. “What about now? How is he working for you?”

Baekhyun grinned as he reminisced about the past. “Ah, I visited my grandma one year and he was still living next door, freshly out of high school. He was about to head off to college in the city, so I asked him to come work in my bakery as a part timer. He said no at first, of course, but he caved in after I bribed him with a few cups of his favorite chocolate bubble tea.”

y/n giggled at the image of Sehun grumpily agreeing to work for Baekhyun as he sipped on the drink.

“What about you, y/n?” Baekhyun asked as he forked a piece of asparagus.

“Me?”

“I feel like I’ve been only talking about myself.” Baekhyun pointed out. “Do you have any close friends?”

Joohyun’s face immediately surfaced to y/n’s mind. “Joohyun! We’ve been friends since high school. We ended up at the same college together, although I don’t see her that often. She’s an art history major, and I’m studying psychology, so we don’t have that many chances to see each other on campus. We’re both so busy these days.”

“I know how that feels,” Baekhyun said wistfully, “my two best friends from high school — Chanyeol and Kyungsoo — work in different cities, so I find that it’s hard to see them. I should call them to catch up sometime…they might tell me to fuck off, though.”

As Baekhyun and y/n worked through their meal, y/n found out that Baekhyun’s ultimate goal was to open a chain of bakeries across the country.

“It’s unrealistic — the bakery only started doing well about a year ago, so I don’t want to jinx it or anything. Not a lot of people make it in this business. But it’s my dream.” Baekhyun said, looking a bit flustered.

y/n reached out and placed her hand over his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Hey, I know you can do it.” she told him.

Baekhyun gave her a warm look, his eyes gleaming in the soft glow of the candles.

They conversed non-stop through the rest of their dinner, discussing what the best dessert at the bakery was, how Sehun never trusted her with the oven anymore, and whether y/n was ever going to manage to learn the meticulous task of latte art. When their plates emptied and stomachs were satisfied, they made their way over to the blue velvet couch in his living room.

“Rom-com? Or horror?” Baekhyun held up two DVD cases for y/n to see.

“Who uses DVDs these days?” y/n jokingly remarked. “Doesn’t everyone use Netflix? Or Hulu?”

Baekhyun grumbled that he liked the manual labor of playing a DVD. He inserted the rom-com into his DVD player and settled on the couch beside her. He scooted closer to drape his arm around y/n’s shoulders. She fit perfectly in his embrace and snuggled into him, tucking her face into the side of his chest. His hands started playing with her hair and she giggled softly. Cuddling with Baekhyun was nice. She indulged in the scent of him, the usual aroma of fresh laundry and strawberries.

“I’m so glad you started working for us at the bakery.” Baekhyun said in a tentative tone.

The following gap of silence told y/n that Baekhyun had something more to say, but was careful with being too upfront about his feelings. y/n craned her neck and kissed Baekhyun boldly on the lips. His eyes widened slightly and his cheeks flushed at her assertiveness. “I’m glad that I met you.” she told him.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that…I like you,” Baekhyun mumbled, face still red, “this sounds selfish, but I like having you in my life. I keep getting a bit flustered when you’re around — you make me feel like I’m having a crush, like I’m in high school again.”

Baekhyun buried his face in his hand in embarrassment. y/n’s lips tugged into a heartwarming smile at Baekhyun’s confession.

y/n felt an urge to tease him for being so straightforward with her. “Is that all?” she asked.

Baekhyun lifted his head out of his hand to see y/n eagerly waiting for a response. “I-I’ve been feeling this way ever since you started working at the bakery. I just can’t seem to take my eyes off of you. At first, I thought it was because I was worried that you might make a mistake and hurt yourself — but then I started searching for you even when it wasn’t your shift. It’s okay if you don’t feel as strongly as I do, but I just wanted to make my feelings clear—”

y/n stopped his words with another kiss, this time longer. “I feel the same way, Baekhyun.”

y/n could’ve sworn that Baekhyun’s smile when she pulled away was bright enough to rival the sun.

The next morning, y/n walked to the bakery with an elated bounce in her step. The sun shone down beamingly onto the pretty autumn day, bright foliage lining the sidewalk. Whether the world actually looked beautiful that day, or if it just looked extra beautiful to her because of her happy mood, she did not know.

“Hi, y/n.” Baekhyun beamed and waved when y/n walked in, his face a light shade of pink. She saw Sehun standing besides him, rolling his eyes.

“Good morning!” y/n waved back with a smile on her face. Baekhyun seemed to be in a sunny mood today. He was softly humming along to a pop song playing in the background as he expertly made a caramel macchiato. Thankfully, he didn’t spill it this time, even with y/n around.

“You guys seem cheery today.” Sehun noted, raising his eyebrows suspiciously. Baekhyun gave him an innocent smile as he handed the drink to a customer.

y/n’s shift passed by normally, everything the same as usual save for Baekhyun’s occasional glances and crescent-shaped smiles in her direction. Due to the upcoming midterms week, there were more students than usual pouring through the door of the bakery, grabbing a cup of coffee before they headed off to the nearby library.

There was finally a little break around lunchtime, when the flow of customers seemed to cease. The bakery was empty for the first time that day. y/n and Baekhyun stood by the register while Sehun went in the kitchen to ice a cake in chocolate ganache.

She turned to her right to see Baekhyun standing next to her, his head cocked to the side to look at y/n. He grinned and proceeded to plant a kiss on her cheek. “How’s your day going, love?”

y/n blushed and shared a wide smile with Baekhyun. “I’m a little tired, but everything is going well! I managed to serve an iced latte in under three minutes today. Are you proud of me?”

Baekhyun booped y/n’s nose with his forefinger. “Yes, I am so proud.”

y/n let out a yawn. She had stayed up nearly all night after her date, trying to finish her assignments and study for her exam. The memory of Baekhyun had kept her in a good mood all morning despite her tiredness, but she felt the exhaustion finally settling into her body after the rush of customers.

“I’ll make you a coffee,” Baekhyun said, noticing her yawn. He made his way over to the espresso machine.

He was about to press the button on the machine when she walked over to wrap her arms around his waist from behind. She buried her face in his broad back, his frame lean but firm against her. She gently tickled his stomach and he let out a quiet laugh.

“Thank you,” she said softly, breathing in his scent.

“Oh my god, can you guys stop having sex in front of me?!” Sehun exclaimed. y/n and Baekhyun sprang apart, their faces scarlet. Sehun had just come out of the kitchen cautiously carrying a three-layer chocolate cake.

“We were just—” Baekhyun began, but Sehun interrupted.

“I will not stand being the third wheel of this bakery.” Sehun huffed, placing the cake down on the counter. He glared at them.

Baekhyun gave Sehun an annoyed look. “You know I’m the owner of this bakery, right? I make the rules.”

“Oh, so when I decide to wear sandals to work, I’m being unprofessional, but you guys can have a makeout session behind the register and it’s completely fine?” Sehun said angrily.

y/n couldn’t help but giggle at Sehun’s reaction. He gave off the vibe of a little kid being annoyed at his parents for being affectionate to each other.

“Aw, Sehun, are you sad that we don’t give you hugs?” y/n pouted, walking over to Sehun with her arms outstretched.

“No way. We are coworkers.” Sehun said coldly, running away to avoid her. y/n and Baekhyun laughed.

Their laughter was cut short when the door chimed and a young woman walked in. Baekhyun’s lips turned into a flat line.

She was tall, a couple inches taller than y/n maybe, and thin. Her hair was long and bleached blonde, tumbling down her shoulders in loose waves. She took no time to stride straight over to the register, where Baekhyun was standing, frozen in place. Her high heels clicked noisily against the wood flooring of the bakery. She looked at Baekhyun with an unreadable look on her face.

Sehun quietly cursed under his breath.

“Hi, Baekhyun.” she finally said after a prolonged silence, her voice hesitant.

“Mina,” Baekhyun breathed, “what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” she said, glancing over at y/n and Sehun, “maybe in private.”

Baekhyun stood, unblinking, still as a statue. His face was blank as he silently walked over to Mina. They sat down in a booth near the back of the bakery.

Once they were out of earshot, y/n turned to Sehun. He looked just as frozen as Baekhyun had been.

“Who’s that?” she asked, but she felt she already knew the answer.

“That’s Baekhyun’s ex, Mina, the one I told you about.” Sehun explained, eyes ladened in worry. “They met in college and dated for a little over two years. They went through a really bad breakup a few years ago and no one knows why. All I know is that he gets extremely agitated whenever someone brings her up. I have no idea why she’s here, he hasn’t seen her for years. She moved to another city not long after they broke up. For all I know, she’s a cold-hearted bitch.”

y/n nodded. She looked over at the booth where Baekhyun and Mina were talking in hushed voices. They sat across from each other, deep in conversation. Baekhyun had a bitter, almost chilling look on his face.

“They were really serious. I remember they were even talking about getting married at one point. She better not be here trying to get back together with him or anything. He was heartbroken after they broke up.” Sehun followed y/n’s gaze to look suspiciously at Mina. It was times like this when y/n realized that beneath Sehun’s bratty persona, he actually cared about Baekhyun a lot. “She left him to be miserable on his own. If she’s trying to get him back, she better watch her back.”

Mina left after about twenty minutes. Baekhyun came back to the register, running his hand through his hair distractedly. He had a pained look on his face.

“What did she want?” Sehun asked, his arms crossed disapprovingly.

“I-it’s nothing for you to worry about.” Baekhyun said, barely making eye contact. “Sehun, can you take the closing shift today?”

“What? Why?”

“Something came up.” Baekhyun gave Sehun a look that seemed to mean something to Sehun. Sehun’s eyes softened. “Please?”

“Fine.” Sehun grumbled. y/n was surprised that Sehun agreed with little convincing. Sehun would’ve normally put up a fight, requiring Baekhyun to bribe him in some way.

Baekhyun was silent for the rest of the shift. y/n and Sehun walked on eggshells around him, careful not to say anything about Mina. They could tell her visit had put a lot on his mind. Baekhyun merely nodded or shook his head whenever he was asked something, and repeatedly stared out the window, deep in thought.

“Hey Baekhyun, is everything okay?” y/n asked hesitantly.

Baekhyun looked at y/n and weakly smiled. “Yeah.”

y/n waited for Baekhyun to start talking about what was on his mind. “Mina, the girl that just came here, is my ex, if you couldn’t already tell.” He let out a heavy sigh before continuing. “We were pretty serious. Almost got married…but it didn’t work out. I don’t know why she suddenly showed up today. I really don’t want anything to do with her anymore.”

y/n appreciated his honesty, but didn’t know what to say.

“I’ll tell you more later if you want.” Baekhyun shared another smile with y/n when he sensed a bit of awkwardness between them.

y/n tried not to think too much about what had happened with Baekhyun and Mina. She found it unsettling that Mina had visited him out of the blue, but she figured that Baekhyun would talk to her about it when he was ready. Still unnerved from the incident with Mina, y/n left the bakery around midafternoon, heading to the library to get a little studying done before her evening class.

Baekhyun had no idea why Mina had randomly popped into his bakery without warning, and asked him to meet her at a Italian restaurant with three Michelin stars halfway across town. He let out an annoyed sigh as he turned the steering wheel of his car to pull into a small parking lot. He would’ve much preferred to be back at his bakery at that moment. He already felt bad about forcing Sehun to work the closing shift.

Mina was already sitting down at a table by the window. Her face lit up when she saw him. Baekhyun internally groaned, and made his way over to the table.

“I was surprised you said yes to this dinner,” Mina chirped.

Baekhyun pulled out his chair and sat down hastily. “I’m not going to stay for long. Ten minutes and I have to go back to work.”

Mina raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you have two people working for you now?”

“What do you want?” Baekhyun was not going to entertain her.

Conveniently for Mina, a waiter interrupted them with two plates of carbonara. Mina gave the waiter a small thank you when he placed the plates in front of her and Baekhyun.

“I got carbonara, your favorite.”

Baekhyun stared at Mina in disbelief. “Can you please tell me why you invited me to dinner so we can part ways?”

Mina sighed. “I’m getting married, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun held his breath. He did not expect to hear that at all.

“Congratulations. I bet he will treat you well.” Baekhyun said flatly.

Mina took a sip of her wine and eyed the ring on her left hand. She held it up for Baekhyun to see, a perfectly cut diamond glimmering in all angles. “Quite frankly, I don’t want this.”

“It’s a pretty ring.” Baekhyun commented.

Mina let out a dry laugh. “I missed you, Baekhyun.”

As if the night wasn’t already a series of surprising events, this comment was by far the worst one yet. Baekhyun deeply sighed in agony. Mina had left him to be lonely and heartbroken when he was in one of his darkest times. He couldn’t possibly understand how she managed to shamelessly act like nothing had happened between them.

“What the fuck are you saying, Mina? We broke up a long time ago. You’re getting married.” Baekhyun’s voice rose. “I’m also taken.”

Mina grabbed Baekhyun’s hand across the table. “I won’t marry him if you’re willing to give us another chance. I can break the engagement if we get back together, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun’s jaw clenched at the offer. Mina hadn’t been like this when they first started dating. She was selfless, kind, and did what was best for those she loved. He saw nothing but a shell of her former self in front of him now.

He ripped his hand out from under hers. “Look, we were over once you decided I wasn’t good enough for you.” He took a moment before continuing to say, “I’m sorry that you’ve gotten yourself in a loveless marriage and you had to stoop this low. You weren’t like this before. What happened?”

“I love Junmyeon, I really do. It’s just…it’s just that I can’t marry him, without knowing what things could’ve been like between us if we had never broken up.” she said, her voice slightly trembling.

Baekhyun let out a bitter, humorless laugh. “You wanted nothing to do with me back when I was just a broke college dropout, remember? Now you see that my bakery is doing well, and all the sudden, you want back in my life?”

Baekhyun immediately worried that he was being a bit too harsh when he saw how Mina looked taken aback by his words.

“I regret how things ended between us more than anything in my life, Baekhyun—” she started to say.

Then his phone started ringing. Baekhyun gave a quick glance to the caller ID before answering. “Hello?”

His eyes widened and shot out of his chair. “I’m on my way.”

Without a single word to Mina, Baekhyun rushed out of the restaurant.

y/n had called Baekhyun, telling him that the stalker showed up again. She had been surprised by Baekhyun’s response over the phone; she hadn’t expected him to drop everything he was doing and make his way to her immediately. y/n fidgeted nervously as she waited for him to show up.

By the time y/n saw Baekhyun running into the lobby of the building, the police had already gotten there and dragged the stalker away. A small crowd gathered around the police and y/n, who was being asked questions by a police officer. Baekhyun looked panicked when he saw an ambulance and a few paramedics on the scene. He pushed past the crowd and rushed to y/n, taking her hand into his. His eyes searched her face, desperate to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

“Are you okay?” He was panting a little from having run across campus.

“Yeah, I’m fine, really. I just got a little bit scratched on my wrists. An ambulance was called just in case.” y/n was quick to assure Baekhyun, but at y/n’s words, Baekhyun gently lifted her hand to examine her wrists, slightly red and bruised. His eyes looked worried and a little glassy, like he was about to tear up.

“What happened exactly?” he asked.

y/n slowly explained what had happened. She had noticed someone following her after class. When she turned the corner into an empty hallway, the stalker grabbed her by the wrists, slamming her onto the wall. y/n fought back, trying to escape his grip, but before she could scream for help, he pressed his palm over her mouth. Thankfully, after a few moments of kicking and yelling into the stalker’s hand, a student passing by noticed the scene and immediately called the police.

“Apparently he’s actually in my class, but he’s been following me around campus and to the bakery. The police arrested him.” she explained, squeezing Baekhyun into a hug. She didn’t want him to be so concerned when he didn’t have to be. She was just glad that the police had finally caught the stalker.

Baekhyun, one hand on the back of y/n’s head, tightened his other arm around her back and mumbled, “I don’t know what I would’ve done if…if he had…”

“Shh,” y/n shushed Baekhyun who was trembling more than she was now. “I’m fine, Baekhyun.” She pulled back to look at Baekhyun's eyes to reassure him and stood her tiptoes to give him a small kiss on the lips. She didn’t feel him relax against her as he usually did. His expression was still stiff, even stiffer than it had been back at the bakery.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, confused. Was he still upset about what had happened with Mina?

Baekhyun scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Let’s talk about this in the car.” he said.

Baekhyun led her to the police officer that had been talking to y/n to make sure they could leave. They walked in silence with their hands intertwined to where Baekhyun’s car had been parked across campus.

She climbed into the passenger seat. Baekhyun placed his hands on the steering wheel without turning on the ignition. She could see a deep frown creasing his forehead. His fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” y/n asked carefully.

“I’m fine. I’m not the one that just got attacked, y/n. Don’t worry about me,” he replied, but his shaky voice and white knuckles said otherwise.

“Can I ask you something?”

Baekhyun nodded without looking at her.

“Why did you ask Sehun to take the closing shift?” she asked. She could hear Baekhyun draw in a sharp breath and shift his grip on the steering wheel.

Before he could reply, his phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket, and the screen briefly flashed in her direction. Mina, it was hard to ignore the four white letters stark against it’s dark background. y/n’s stomach churned uncomfortably.

“Hello?” he answered curtly. She could hear Mina’s voice on the other line. She sounded worried.

“Something came up and I had to leave,” he said, “everything’s fine. No, there’s no need to stop by my place. I’m fine. Please, I don’t want to see you again, okay?”

Baekhyun hung up after a few moments. He let out a heavy sigh, leaning his head back against the headrest of his car. Neither of them spoke for a while.

“Was that Mina?” y/n asked, her voice barely audible. Baekhyun flinched at the sound of her name.

“Yes.” he said darkly.

“Oh,” was all that y/n could manage to say.

Something came up and I had to leave, he had said. y/n couldn’t help but feel a worrying question gnawing at the back of her head. She knew she wouldn’t be able to rest until she knew the answer. “Were you with her when I called you?”

Baekhyun looked blankly at his hands on the steering wheel. “Yes,” he finally said after a moment of hesitation. “I was having dinner with her.”

y/n felt an unbearable sting in her chest as her suspicion proved to be true. She knew Mina had wanted to talk to him back at the bakery. She had gotten the impression that Baekhyun wasn’t pleased about her visit, but she didn’t think that Baekhyun would want to see Mina again.

“I…I wish you would’ve told me,” she said quietly. She didn’t want to start a fight, she really didn’t. Besides, it wasn’t like she and Baekhyun had agreed to become exclusive or anything. But she couldn’t help but be a little upset at the fact that he had agreed to have dinner with Mina without telling her.

“I’m sorry.” he apologized, meeting her eyes for the first time in a while. They were still a bit glassy and red, staring at her sadly.

y/n wasn’t only upset with Baekhyun, but she was also upset at herself for getting involved in this situation in the first place. She didn’t want to be stuck in the middle between them, between a relationship that had lasted far longer than the amount of time she’d even known Baekhyun.

Baekhyun studied her face. “I should tell you about what happened in the past.” he said. y/n nodded, and he started to tell the history between him and Mina.

“I met Mina in my first year of college. She was a few years older than me. She had everything already figured out — what kind of job she wanted to have, what kind of life she wanted for herself — and I was just lost. I found some comfort in that she was so secure with herself because I wasn’t at the time. Everything seemed great at first. I’d never dated anyone seriously until that point, so I had no idea what to even expect out of a relationship, but I thought I was in love with her.

“Then right before our two-year anniversary, she started talking about marriage. Dropping hints about wedding dresses and engagement rings and all that. I definitely wasn’t ready to get married, I had no idea what I was even doing with my life. She was so disappointed when I didn’t propose on our anniversary.

“That was when I told her that I was going to drop out of college. I had felt like I was living a lie during my entire time there. I didn’t care about my major at all, and the thought of working in an office made me miserable. The only dream I’ve ever had in my life was to open my own bakery. I had expected her to at least be supportive of my dream. I thought she at least loved me that much.” Baekhyun hung his head and looked down at his lap bitterly. y/n’s heart ached at the look on his face. Baekhyun let out a sigh and continued on.

“She basically told me that my dream would never come true, that I would never save enough money to even come close to opening a bakery. She said even if I somehow managed to open a bakery, it would go out of business in months. She begged me to stay in college and study finance, said her family would never accept a husband with an unrealistic dream and no security blanket. She said we could get married when I graduated and got a job.

“I refused. I had already lost sight of my dream for twenty years. I wasn’t going to do it any longer. When she realized I wasn’t going to change my mind, she broke up with me. She got a job offer in a different city and moved away. I hadn’t seen her again since then…until today.”

Baekhyun’s eyes were full of tears now. y/n’s heart broke for him as a drop escaped, streaking down his cheek. She automatically reached out to take his hand in hers. The soft sound of his sniffle and the tremble of his hands told her only a fraction of the heartbreak that Baekhyun had experienced. There was nothing she could say that could undo what had happened to him. All she could do was hold his hand, and be there for him.

Baekhyun’s shoulders shook as he let out a quiet sob. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry…you’ve been through enough today. Watching me cry is probably the last thing you want to do.”

“Don’t ever apologize for showing your emotions.” y/n told him, gripping his hand tighter.

y/n finally understood why Baekhyun had been so shaken by Mina’s sudden appearance. Mina had taken his heart, smashed it, and left before he could even pick up the broken pieces. For her to show up out of the blue, acting like nothing had happened, y/n could tell why Baekhyun had been so upset.

“She asked me to have dinner with her when she came to the bakery. I said yes, thinking I would finally get closure. I thought she would finally apologize for the terrible things she’d said. I should’ve told you then, I’m sorry.” he said through his quiet whimpers. “Instead, she told me she’s getting married. She asked me to take her back. She told me she wouldn’t marry her fiancé if I gave her another chance.”

y/n sat, frozen in shock. She couldn’t quite believe her ears. Anger rose in her chest. How could Mina be so selfish?

“I said no, of course, but I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that she thinks so little of me, that she would think I’d jump at the chance to get back together with her, after all that she did…”

y/n leaned across the console of the car to wrap her arms around his shoulders. He buried his face against her neck, letting his tears freely fall now. y/n didn’t mind that her shirt was wet with his tears, she just wanted to take away all the pain in his heart. She brushed her hands against the broad expanse of his back, rubbing gentle circles. Her heart broke for him again at the sound of his broken sobs.

y/n couldn’t help but feel an uneasiness rising from the pit of her stomach. She thought that she had found what she had been looking for the past twenty-two years of her life, in Baekhyun — but the doubts that the appearance of Mina had sowed in her grew after listening to Baekhyun. She couldn’t tell if he still had feelings for Mina or not. More importantly, y/n didn’t know if she could be there for Baekhyun. She had no idea if she could be the one to fix what Mina had broken in him.

y/n wondered if she was just being selfish. Yes, she liked Baekhyun a lot, but she wasn’t sure if now was the best time to jump into a relationship with him when he was still healing from his last heartbreak. Everything about it felt overwhelming now. y/n genuinely appreciated Baekhyun’s honesty, but at the same time, she felt distant from him. Baekhyun’s story had made her realize how little she actually knew about him. She had no idea of who he was in the past, and hearing the truth felt like a burden. Could she be the one to fix his heart?

y/n wasn’t sure if Baekhyun was what she was looking for in a relationship anymore.

She slowly pulled back from Baekhyun’s arms when his sobs died down, replaced by soft sniffles. “I-I need some time to process this.” she said tentatively.

Baekhyun blinked, his eyes swollen red and his cheeks tear streaked. “What?” The sight of Baekhyun in tears made y/n’s heart ache.

“I’m sorry…I really hate to do this, Baekhyun. But I don’t know if I can do whatever this is between us. I need time to think, and I think you do, too.” Her own eyes stung, filling up with tears of their own. She couldn’t bear to look at him. She felt sick. What she was doing was selfish; she was trying to protect herself because she feared commitment to Baekhyun.

When she finally braced herself to look up at him, his eyes were red-rimmed, shimmering with tears. “...I understand.” he said in a breathy voice.

Eventually, y/n silently got out of the car and ignored how much she regretted her decision to leave Baekhyun all alone. She hurriedly ran across campus and back to her apartment. She only managed to fall asleep that night when her eyes were red and swollen from crying.

y/n requested the rest of the week off, claiming that she needed time to study for her exams. She hadn’t been entirely lying; she desperately needed to study. But that reason paled in comparison to her compulsive need to avoid Baekhyun at all costs.

Thinking of Baekhyun clouded her heart with so many emotions that she couldn’t even begin to process. She had felt so cruel, leaving him behind in his car with tears falling down his cheeks, when he had poured his heart out in front of her just moments before. It was as if he had taken his heart out of its carefully guarded cage and handed it to her, only for her to abandon it. Her chest filled with guilt just thinking about it. The reasonable, practical side of her heart, however, told her that they both needed time on their own to collect their thoughts before making rash decisions.

The week passed by uneventfully with y/n spending most of her time in either class or the library. She tried her very best to push away every thought of Baekhyun. She was walking to class one day when she received a text from Joohyun, asking her if she wanted to have dinner. She brightened at the chance to see her friend. She was desperately in need of a distraction.

y/n walked into a dimly lit restaurant that apparently served the best gourmet burgers in town. Joohyun animatedly waved her over to their table.

“Joohyun, how’s it going?” y/n asked as she hung her coat on the chair.

Joohyun rubbed her stomach and complained, “I’m so goddamn hungry. Let’s order.”

By the time their food was served, they were deep into conversation about their lives. y/n had expected Joohyun, who loved to gossip, to hit her with the relationship question — and she wasn’t wrong.

“So…any updates about you and the cute baker boss?” Joohyun smiled slyly and wiggled her eyebrows.

y/n nearly choked on her food. “W-we aren’t together.”

Disappointment took over Joohyun’s face. “Are you serious? I told you guys would make a cute couple! Really, nothing happened?” Joohyun pressed for answers.

“We did kiss.” y/n finally admitted.

Joohyun giggled in excitement. “Oh my, tell me all the details! Just once? There's no way you only managed to kiss that cute boy only once.”

y/n explained to her a rough sketch of what had happened, but wasn’t sure if she should include the detail about their time away from each other. “We…aren’t exactly on good terms right now.”

Joohyun, who was listening attentively, slammed her palm on the table. Her mug of beer made a little splash at the force. “What? How could you not be on good terms right now?”

y/n internally cringed. “I know. Everything seemed to be going well until his ex showed up.”

“His ex?” Joohyun’s eyes widened. “I hate a man with a messy past.”

“It’s not that messy.” y/n wondered. Was it really?

Joohyun shook her head in disapproval. “So, you guys are on a break right now?”

y/n nodded bitterly and sipped on her mug of beer, halfway empty now.

“You shied away from commitment, right,” Joohyun said almost conclusively. “I know you.”

y/n nodded again, but this time hung her head and said, “I don’t know what to do. I really like him, but do I have it in me to commit to all sides of him? He seemed like he’s so bright and easy-going all the time. I had no idea about his past and how heartbroken he was. I don’t know if I can be the one to support him, even through all his dark times. What if I hurt him too? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that I broke his heart, even just a little bit.”

“Aw, y/n.” Joohyun picked up y/n’s hand and made y/n meet eyes with her. “You have a good heart. You should know that. I’m sure your relationship with him will have its ups and downs — as all relationships do.”

y/n felt her eyes tear up. Joohyun’s assurance was exactly what she had been looking for. She needed the courage to commit to Baekhyun, give her all to him and promise to love him with her whole heart.

“I’m usually not the one to say cheesy shit like this — but follow your heart, y/n. You overthink sometimes.” Joohyun smiled warmly at y/n. “I’ve never heard you talk about someone like this before, y/n. It sounds like you care about him a lot.”

y/n thanked Joohyun for her advice and gave her a long hug before they parted ways. y/n stared emptily after Joohyun as her friend rushed to the nearby subway station.

y/n clutched her coat tighter around herself in the cold nighttime air. She was in a part of town that she rarely frequented, surrounded by shops and restaurants she’d never seen before. She walked around aimlessly until her feet came to rest before a small bakery sandwiched between a Chinese restaurant and a bookstore.

It was late, but there were still cookies, cakes and different pastries displayed on the shelf. y/n could smell the addicting, sweet scent of baked goods when she stepped closer. The inside of the bakery seemed so warm and inviting; y/n desperately wanted to go inside.

An employee popped out of the back room and jogged over to the register. y/n felt a bitter pang in her chest when she realized he wasn’t Baekhyun. She had strangely expected him to be Baekhyun, despite the fact that this wasn’t his bakery, plus she was in a completely different part of the city. She realized that she had come to permanently associate the concept of bakeries with Baekhyun.

A group of customers walked in and the employee greeted them with a welcoming smile. y/n quickly walked away before his smile could remind her of Baekhyun, too.

y/n was sitting on her couch on a lazy evening, sipping a cup of earl grey tea as she watched dry leaves fall off the branches outside in a slow transition from fall to winter. After a long day at school, she was about to turn on the TV when her doorbell rang.

She considered who could be visiting her this late. Something in the back of her mind wished it was Baekhyun behind the door, all smiles and sunshine, but she remembered a package that she had ordered earlier in the week. She looked out her peephole expecting a delivery man and nearly gasped. Baekhyun was fidgeting nervously on her doormat.

She opened her door to reveal a slightly disheveled Baekhyun, wearing a rumpled sweater and light-wash jeans. Despite everything that had happened, she couldn’t help but be glad to see him. “Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” he said, tense, “I-I wanted to talk to you. Is that okay? If you’re not ready, I can leave—”

“It’s okay, Baekhyun. Come in.” She opened the door wider so he could walk in.

Baekhyun awkwardly shuffled to her living room to stand in front of her TV.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked as she closed the door behind her.

Baekhyun chewed on his bottom lip nervously. “I just wanted to say, I’m sorry. I should’ve been more honest with you, and I definitely should’ve figured everything out before I started anything with you.” he said, scratching the back of his neck.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Baekhyun.”

“I thought I had gotten over the whole Mina thing a long time ago, but obviously I was wrong. I know this now; Mina didn’t want me. She wanted the nostalgia, the life that she thinks she could’ve had with me if we hadn’t broken up. But I don’t even want to think about that, because I wouldn’t have met you.”

“I wasn’t upset about you getting over Mina.” y/n clarified. “Now that I think of it, you made it quite clear that you didn’t have feelings for her anymore. I’ve thought about us a lot in the past week, and I want to apologize. I was scared of commitment—”

“I scared you off, didn’t I,” Baekhyun murmured. “I can’t promise you that I’m completely healed from what happened all those years ago. I understand if you don’t want to be with me because of that — but I would regret it forever if I didn’t at least tell you how I feel. I want to be with you. You’ve been on my mind all week, and it drove me crazy that I wasn’t seeing you everyday at the bakery. I missed you.”

Baekhyun’s eyes desperately searched for hers. The bright, sincere look in his eyes was asking her to say something, anything at all.

“I want to be with you, too.” y/n said, her voice clear and sure.

Baekhyun let out a huge sigh of relief. She couldn’t help but smile at his quick change in expression.

“I missed you too, Baekhyun,” y/n confessed. “I’m so sorry I left you all alone in the car. I really should’ve been there for you. I-I was being selfish. I can’t imagine not having you in my life anymore, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun nodded. “It’s okay. I understand how you could have felt that way. I can handle my own emotions, too. I don’t want to burden you.”

“No, no, you’re never a burden to me, Baekhyun,” y/n shook her head. “I’m going to be here for you from now on.”

Baekhyun’s face flushed and broke into a radiant smile. y/n’s heart soared.

He crossed the small space between them and cupped her face in his hands, leaning down to press his lips against hers. She let out a soft noise in surprise, and melted into the kiss. It had been far too long since he had kissed her like this. She gently placed her hands on his back, pulling him closer to her. She could feel him smile against her lips.

“You have no idea how much I’ve been waiting to hear that.” he mumbled, pulling back a little bit.

She shut him up by kissing him again.

Two months later

It was already the season to dress in thick woolen coats with pockets deep enough for Baekhyun to hide dessert to surprise y/n with. He occasionally pulled out carefully packaged brownies or sugar cookies and watched y/n’s delighted reaction in satisfaction. His gifts didn’t stop with the baked goods; Baekhyun once showed up in a blue knitted scarf and gifted an identical pair for y/n to match with him.

y/n gripped Baekhyun’s hand tightly and half-dragged him towards the snow-covered cabin. Snowflakes were falling around them softly, resting on the tops of their heads and shoulders before quickly melting away.

y/n suppressed a laugh when Baekhyun let out another whine. “I told you I didn’t want to go!” he complained, flailing his other arm as y/n dragged him away. He pouted when she looked back at him — she almost gave in at his puppy-like eyes.

“We came all this way, Baekhyun,” she said firmly, “now let’s go inside, I’m freezing.”

When Baekhyun received the official invitation to Mina’s wedding two months ago, he had been strongly against going. He crossed his arms, claiming that he never wanted to see her face again. Strangely enough, y/n found herself convincing Baekhyun to attend the wedding with her.

“You’ll finally get the closure you’ve wanted if you go and congratulate her, Baekhyun.” y/n had said to Baekhyun, who was fuming at the notion of seeing Mina again.

“It’s fine if you really don’t want to go. But I won’t be able to show her that you’re mine.” y/n had said with a wink. This seemed to cheer Baekhyun up a little bit, a mischievous glint returning to his eyes.

y/n and Baekhyun entered the cabin, handing their coats to the coat checker. y/n was wearing a light pink silk dress that stopped a few inches below her knees, her hair falling down her back in soft waves. She had made sure to look presentable and had spent hours deciding on her dress. Baekhyun looked at her appreciatively, blushing when she met his eyes.

The cabin was completely decked out in Christmas decorations, every wall space covered in wreaths and fairy lights. Even the air smelled like Christmas — the aroma of gingerbread cookies and pine cones filling the entire venue. Huge A-framed windows looked out at the snowy mountains around them.

y/n clapped excitedly. “I love Christmas weddings!” She shot Baekhyun a warning glance before he could let out another grumble.

The ceremony was breathtaking, y/n admitted. The wedding hall was decorated in a flourish of pink toned flowers. The window behind the altar gave a clear view into the open sky as the sun set beautifully behind the mountains. Mina wore an elegant white gown decorated with lace flowers and crystals that made the dress twinkle as she walked down the aisle to her soon-to-be husband. The groom, Junmyeon, looked just as elegant in his tuxedo. He stood at the altar in a perfect posture, beaming at his bride.

y/n glanced over at Baekhyun when Mina and Junmyeon began exchanging vows. She had felt a twinge of worry that Baekhyun might not actually enjoy the wedding. However, he was smiling lightly, eyes content at the sight of the newlywed couple. He looked genuinely happy for them.

The banquet hall on the other end of the cabin slowly filled up with people for the reception. Thousands of fairy lights hung across the walls, twinkling like stars that whimsically complemented the darkening sky outside. Baekhyun’s eyes lit up when he saw two twenty-something year old men walking towards them. y/n recognized them as the guys from the framed photo in Baekhyun’s apartment.

“Is that Byun Baekhyun I see?” a tall, gangly man with noticeably pointy ears yelled, approaching them with a big grin on his face.

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun exclaimed animatedly. Chanyeol captured Baekhyun in a bear hug, squeezing him as tight as he could. Baekhyun tapped his friend’s back. “Chanyeol, my dude, I can’t breathe.”

Chanyeol released him with a deep, rumbling laugh. A shorter man with big round eyes and heart-shaped lips approached Baekhyun, giving Baekhyun a hug as well. He gave y/n a much calmer impression compared to Chanyeol, who was shaking with laughter.

“It’s so good to see you, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun said as the shorter man let go. Kyungsoo’s eyes moved to y/n, who had been standing next to Baekhyun. He gave her a curious look.

“Guys, this is my girlfriend, y/n. y/n, these are my friends, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun introduced, a proud smile on his face. y/n felt warmth rise in her stomach at the phrase my girlfriend. It had already been over a month since they'd made their relationship official, but she still felt butterflies whenever he said those words.

“You’re y/n? The y/n? The girl Baekhyun has been talking nonstop about for the past two months?” Chanyeol teased. Baekhyun groaned and covered his face in his hands, his face flushed red.

“Chanyeol, please. Make a good first impression for y/n.” Baekhyun complained.

“Yes, I’m y/n. It’s so nice to meet you guys.” y/n said, smiling at Baekhyun’s embarrassment. His rosy cheeks were beyond cute when he was embarrassed.

“We’re both so glad that Baekhyun finally found someone. You guys make a cute couple, I must say.” Kyungsoo sincerely commented.

“Get ready, y/n, because I’m going to tell you so many embarrassing stories about Baekhyun. Has he told you about the time he got stuck—” Chanyeol started, but Baekhyun made a strangled noise and punched Chanyeol lightly on the arm. Chanyeol overreacted by grabbing himself and scrunching his face in feigned pain.

“Oh, stop it. I didn’t even punch you that hard.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

“He got stuck inside a porta potty once,” Kyungsoo quietly whispered to y/n while Chanyeol and Baekhyun quarreled over who had started ‘it’.

The four of them enjoyed their food at a banquet table together. Chanyeol was in the middle of telling a story about the time Baekhyun accidentally shaved off his eyebrows in middle school. Baekhyun had given up on trying to make Chanyeol shut up.

“I had no idea the blade was double sided!” Baekhyun objected, causing Chanyeol to snort and double over the table. y/n laughed as she imagined a younger Baekhyun without eyebrows.

Guests began to walk up to Mina and Junmyeon one by one to congratulate them one last time before heading out. Baekhyun eyed the happy couple who stood across the room hand in hand. Mina was standing with Junmyeon, a bright smile on her face. She chuckled when Junmyeon leaned down to whisper something to her.

“Do you want to go talk to her?” y/n asked quietly in Baekhyun’s ear.

“Only if you come with me,” he murmured.

y/n and Baekhyun excused themselves, saying their goodbyes to Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. y/n wrapped her arm around Baekhyun’s and made their way towards Mina and Junmyeon.

Mina’s smile faded ever so slightly when she saw Baekhyun and y/n approaching them. She said something to Junmyeon, prompting him to walk away and give them some privacy.

“Congratulations, Mina.” Baekhyun greeted her with a genuine smile.

“Baekhyun, I didn’t think you would come,” Mina said, looking flustered. She glanced at y/n standing next to him. “I-isn’t she the girl that works for you at the bakery?”

“Yes, she’s also my girlfriend.” Baekhyun replied. y/n felt an arm wrap around her waist. Mina showed little to no reaction other than a slight widening of the eyes. y/n felt satisfaction settle inside her as she heard the phrase again. My girlfriend.

“I do remember you saying that you were taken,” Mina said, an awkward smile lingering on her lips. She turned her eyes to y/n. “It’s nice to meet you, y/n. I assume you know who I am.”

y/n nodded once wordlessly.

Baekhyun cleared his throat once and said, “Despite everything that’s happened between us, I still want you to be happy. I hope you are, with Junmyeon.”

“I am,” she said quietly, “thank you, Baekhyun.”

“Goodbye, Mina.” Baekhyun gave her a curt nod before moving to walk away.

“Wait, Baekhyun—” Mina blurted, stopping Baekhyun in his tracks. He turned to look at her.

“I-I’m sorry. For how I treated you all those years ago. You didn’t deserve that, and I know it’s too late to apologize now — but I still want you to know.” Mina looked down at the hem of her dress before continuing her apology. “You’re a great guy. I hope you find happiness, too.”

“Don’t worry,” Baekhyun said, “I found happiness with her.” His arm tightened around y/n’s waist, pulling her closer to his side.

y/n watched Baekhyun smile at Mina, his face the most peaceful y/n had ever seen. He slid his hand into y/n’s and pulled them away. All Mina could do was stare after the couple as they walked out of the venue until they were out of sight.

y/n comfortably settled into the white sheets of the bed, relaxing after a long day of hauling herself around on a pair of high heels. She soon felt the pressure of Baekhyun sinking down beside her. It was too late for them to make the three-hour drive back to their city after the reception, so Baekhyun had booked a hotel room for the two of them. She rolled over on her side to look at Baekhyun, who was laying on his back, his face at ease. y/n blushed slightly at the sight of his bare chest; he was only dressed in a pair of sweatpants.

Shifting through the crack of the curtains, moonlight illuminated Baekhyun’s skin into a healthy glow.

“Thank you.” Baekhyun softly whispered. He met his eyes with y/n.

“For what?” y/n asked.

“For everything. I don’t think I’ve been this happy in a long time.” Baekhyun moved closer to kiss her briefly on the lips. “And I’m so glad you’re the one to make me feel this way.”

y/n gave him a small smile and raised a hand to stroke his hair. Without saying a word, she lovingly kissed him again in response, silently letting him know that she felt the same way. Everything he did, from his endearing smiles to little pouts whenever he messed up the icing, and every way he looked, from a neatly dressed pastry chef to a mess of soft brown hair and dark puppy eyes — all of Baekhyun made y/n fall harder for him.

She deepened the kiss, pressing her lips harder against Baekhyun’s mouth. She felt warmth gather in the pit of her stomach. Baekhyun swiped his tongue against her lips, allowing him to push his tongue inside to meet hers. Baekhyun placed his hand on the back of her neck, pulling their bodies as close as possible. She could feel the heat of his body firm against hers.

Their breaths became heavier as they continued kissing. She let out a moan when she felt Baekhyun instinctively grind his hips against hers. His hands gripped her waist and moved her so that she was straddling his hips. She bent down to capture his lips again in a messy kiss, their tongues moving against each other sloppily. She rolled her hips against him as they kissed, searching for friction that sent chills down her back.

She felt his hand slide up the hem of her pajama shirt, gently brushing the soft skin of her stomach. A shiver ran down her entire body. She reached down to pull her shirt over her head. Baekhyun pulled back slightly to stare at her, his breaths shallow and his pupils dilated. His hands wandered down her sides. The way Baekhyun touched her, like she was the most precious thing in the world, made her a million times more sensitive. Every time his hands traveled to a new place, she had to cut back a gasp.

Baekhyun kissed the side of her jaw, and down the column of her neck. He harshly sucked on a tender point at the base of her throat, his mouth leaving angry, red marks all over her neck. Baekhyun’s hands started kneading her breasts, and she let out another moan. Pleased with her reaction, he ducked his head to take her breast into his mouth. She lightly moaned as she felt his tongue flick against her nipple.

“B-Baekhyun,” she called out shakily.

“Mmm?” he replied, his voice muffled against her skin.

“I need you.”

Baekhyun’s mouth released her breast with a pop, and the sudden onset of cold air made her shudder. He looked to meet her lustful eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she breathed out.

Baekhyun kissed her lips again, exhaling a soft moan as he did. His hand slowly trailed down from her chest to rest between her thighs, brushing against her stomach on the way. She felt goosebumps rise on her skin as he gently shoved his hand inside her pajama shorts to rub her against her underwear. y/n let out a sudden moan, surprised at the pressure in which Baekhyun began rubbing her. His index and middle fingers began moving in a languid back and forth motion. y/n rested her forehead against Baekhyun’s shoulder as she whimpered, already getting lightheaded. Baekhyun let out a soft sigh in response and pushed her underwear down. Baekhyun slid a finger across y/n’s wetness before he started rubbing her clit in circular motions. He eased his two fingers inside her and started to slowly pump them back and forth.

At the direct contact of Baekhyun’s fingers inside her heat, y/n lost control of her moans. She felt embarrassed at the sounds that came out from her lips and rang across the small hotel room. She closed her eyes and bit her lip.

“Look at me, love.” Baekhyun demanded. y/n forced her eyes open and saw Baekhyun, who had a dark look in his eyes, craving for more.

Baekhyun’s hand moved faster in and out of y/n. “Does that feel good?” he asked, voice hoarse.

“Oh my god, yes,” she managed to say between her moans.

Baekhyun gently flipped them over so that he was leaning above her, his arms resting on either side of her face. As he leaned down to kiss her, he slid off his sweatpants leaving only his underwear on. y/n broke from the kiss, staring at the hardness in his underwear, painfully straining against the fabric. She slowly let her hand wander down from his shoulder and splayed it against his stomach. She played with the hem of his underwear before pulling it down and wrapping her hand around his hardened cock. y/n moved her hand in a steady up and down motion, adding more pressure at the tip. She watched Baekhyun come undone by her touch.

“Go a little faster, sweetheart.” Baekhyun said in a hurried whisper.

y/n responded by moving her hand faster in a circular motion. Baekhyun let out a quiet noise in the back of his throat, further igniting the flame that was burning inside her stomach.

“I need you inside me,” she said, her voice unsteady.

Baekhyun reached for his wallet on the side table next to the bed and fished out a condom with one hand. He ripped the plastic open and rolled the condom onto his length. He took no time to gently move her hand away from his cock and line himself up at her entrance, pausing for a moment before looking into her desperate eyes. He sank down into her, letting out a soft moan. Her head leaned back into the pillow in pleasure, making space for Baekhyun to tilt his head down and suck on her neck. She let out high-pitched moans as he started to move faster, his hand reaching out to hold onto the headboard of the bed.

“Fuck, Baekhyun.” y/n cried out. Baekhyun thrusted harder into her at the sound of his name rolling off her tongue. He pounded in and out of her, gaining a moan from y/n with each thrust. She brought her hands to his shoulders and raked her fingernails down his broad back.

Baekhyun’s decreasing steadiness and grunts indicated that he was close. y/n felt like she was going to explode, but it wasn’t enough. She took Baekhyun’s hand to her clit and looked into his eyes, begging him for more. Baekhyun got the message and started rubbing intensely, causing y/n to melt into a puddle under his hand. Even as Baekhyun moved roughly, there was an undeniable sense of affection from him, his eyes gazing at her lovingly.

“Baby, you feel so good,” he murmured.

A few moments later, there was a sudden burst of pent up energy, her back arching off the bed and legs shaking as she came. Her vision blurred as she clenched her eyes and loud moans spilled out of her lips. She called out for Baekhyun, barely making out her own words through her release. He slammed her into a few more times before reaching his own climax.

They collapsed down onto the bed together, chests rising and falling from their harsh breaths. She turned to the side to look at Baekhyun. His skin glistened with sweat, and he looked back at her, dazed.

The world seemed to stop when Baekhyun said the next words. “I love you,” Baekhyun whispered softly, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind y/n’s ear. The soft brown in his eyes glimmered for a moment before he leaned in to close his lips around hers.

When they broke apart, y/n whispered back, “I love you too, Baekhyun.” making his face break out into a sweet smile that reminded her of nothing but sunshine, and strangely, strawberries, too.

The cold December air hurt y/n’s lungs as she skipped down the snowy sidewalk that led to the bakery. She ducked her head through the door, inhaling a mixed aroma of cookies, cakes, and macaroons. A smile sprung on her face as she made eye contact with Sehun, who was working the register.

“What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to work today.” Sehun asked, surprised to see her.

“I just wanted to visit my favorite bakery employee,” she said innocently, walking over to ruffle Sehun’s hair. Sehun rolled his eyes.

“You’re here to visit your goddamn boyfriend, and you know it.” Sehun deadpanned.

y/n laughed brightly. “I’m here to see you too, Sehun!” She scanned the bakery — it was unusually empty today with most college students having left for winter break. “Where’s Baekhyun?”

Sehun rolled his eyes again. “He’s in the kitchen.”

y/n walked into the kitchen and was met with Baekhyun bent over a tray of cookies. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, his teeth gently digging into his bottom lip as he carefully squeezed icing onto a cookie. He looked up and beamed when he saw y/n walk in.

“Hi, love,” he said, placing the icing bag down on the counter, “what are you doing here?”

“Hi,” she replied, walking over to give him a hug, “I got bored sitting around the apartment so I decided to come visit.”

Baekhyun leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “Good. I was getting bored with icing these cookies, too.”

y/n looked down at what he had been working on and gasped. “You know sugar cookies are my favorite.” she said, a blissful smile on her face.

Baekhyun picked up the cookie he’d been icing and tipped it into y/n’s mouth. She chewed, delighting in the sweet flavor of her favorite dessert.

“It’s delicious,” she complimented, “you should try some.”

He leaned in to kiss her again, this time more eagerly. His lips curved against the slope of her mouth, his tongue moving past her lips. She suppressed a moan into a soft sigh and gripped his shoulder as he pressed harder against her mouth.

“Mm, but I’d rather have you for dessert.” Baekhyun broke off from her lips and shamelessly murmured into y/n’s ear, making her face heat up instantly.

They reluctantly pulled back when they heard Sehun’s grumpy yell from outside.

“You guys better not be having sex in there!”

431 notes · View notes

puppywritings · 3 years

Text

sometimes they come back - qian kun (ft. huang renjun, dong sicheng, wong yukhei & johnny suh)

⇢ synopsis: kun was distraught when he lost his brother sicheng at a very young age. sixteen years later, he’s moved on from his trauma and made a living as a high school literature teacher. however, with the entrance of a troubled young student, along comes reminders of his brother’s gruesome end and somehow, kun feels a daunting link.

⇢ word count: 9.3k ⇢ trigger warnings: swearing, nightmares, trauma, mental illness, death of a family member, demons, blood, murder, one instance of semi-graphic gore.

⇢ a/n: so this is the longest thing i’ve ever written and i worked pretty damn hard on it. quick disclaimer that although i made renjun very evil i still love him ❤️ (and evil renjun is kinda sexy but u didn’t hear that from me) anyways this story definitely fits in the horror genre and may be disturbing for younger readers!! based on stephen king’s short story sometimes they come back but deviates from the actual plot. see the trigger warnings above and proceed with caution.

⇢ part of @takitaro and @starryqian‘s stephen king collab! thank u for allowing me to be part of such a fun project:)

⇢ taglist: @badwithten @sandaigdigan-reads

masterlist

Sunday.

The clock read 03:26 when Qian Kun woke up from his nightmare, panting and covered in sweat. Long ago, this was a familiar occurrence. Long ago, it was strange if he didn’t wake up like this. But, long ago, this all ended. It had been fourteen years since the nightmares stopped - so why were they happening again now?

Shaking, Kun got out of bed and trudged downstairs to the kitchen in the house where he lived alone, and had done for many years now. He flicked the switch to boil the kettle; there was no way he was getting back to sleep any time soon. His toes tapped anxiously on the tile floor while he sat at the table, picking at a hangnail on his left thumb. Why now, all this time after he had recovered, was he being forced to relive his brother’s murder as he slept?

The kettle boiled with a click, and Kun jumped. He huffed, hand on his chest, and went to prepare his drink. Coffee, black. He couldn’t take anything light or sugary, not that night. The sharpness of his beverage bit at him, and it was what he needed - a sensory distraction from the images currently filling his mind. His brother Sicheng, just thirteen years old; the light leaving his eyes as he went limp in Kun’s arms; the blood flooding out of his stab wound, bathing them both in crimson; the greaser gang dispersing, leaving Kun alone to yell, bawl, and beg. Kun shuddered, swallowing back nausea. God, he wanted to forget. But he knew he never could.

(Timeskip - 16 years earlier)

The weather had been fair on the afternoon that Kun lost his brother; the sky was blue, cloudless, and the air was practically alive with all the opportunities for young boys to find fun. The afternoon had begun much like any other. The young Kun and Sicheng, revolting against the idea of spending any time inside while the sun was shining, had set off towards their favourite diner, just a few blocks away. Kun remembered every detail exactly - he had relived the event every time he fell asleep for years afterwards - his brother’s bright blue t-shirt, the freckles scattering his cheeks, the frayed laces in his favourite sneakers. Sicheng was still small at thirteen years old, not yet having hit that growth spurt he was waiting for. In their neighbourhood, plagued with crime, bullies, and greaser gangs, Sicheng’s size put him at a disadvantage. Kun, though not huge himself, always felt protective over his younger brother, and had gotten into many a fistfight in his defence. That fated day felt perfectly normal, up until the moment they turned onto the diner’s street.

Fourteen-year-old Kun sighed. Swarmed around the entrance of their beloved diner was a group of greasers, complete with coal-black leather jackets and huge, hulking motorcycles.

“Come on, let’s go,” Sicheng said, hands tucked in his pockets. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“No,” Kun said abruptly, and Sicheng looked at him in surprise. “I’m sick of living my life in fear of these idiots. They don’t own the diner - we can just walk right past them and go inside. They can’t stop us.”

“Are you sure? What about little Shotaro?”

This made Kun pause. Everybody knew the story about little Shotaro. In the next town over, a boy a few years younger than them had been beaten to a pulp, almost killed, over a ridiculous turf war that he hadn’t even been involved in. Kun clenched his jaw, angry at the injustice, thoughts of the incident only spurring him on. He had more confidence that day than perhaps ever before.

“They won’t touch us.” Kun truly believed this. The group in question, a few years older than the brothers, had never caused them harm before. The most they had done before was chase them, and once spat on them, which had been an awful humiliation indeed, but Kun didn’t think they’d be bold enough to hurt them - it was all an act, a front to look tough. “Let's go,” Kun said with an edge of determination, and Sicheng followed him closely down the street.

As predicted, the greasers weren’t happy when Kun and Sicheng approached them - far from it. A boy, around seventeen or so, eyeballed the boys as soon as they got close. He scoffed when he saw that they weren’t stopping. “Yo,” he barked. “Diner’s ours today. Turn around.”

Kun puffed out his chest despite his nerves. “No.”

The greaser laughed incredulously, elbowing his buddy in the side as if sharing some ridiculous joke. He turned to Kun and Sicheng, looking down at them as though they were ants on the sidewalk. “Hold up. The fuck did you just say?”

“I said no,” Kun held his ground, fists clenched to keep them from trembling. Kun bravely chanced a look up at the greaser and was unable to read his expression. It was somewhere between disbelieving surprise and rage; his eyebrows were pulled tightly downwards, and his mouth was agape, showing a snaggletooth.

Kun felt Sicheng tug on the back of his shirt, holding onto his brother to ease his anxiety. He spoke up, following his older brother's lead. "We only want to get some milkshakes," he spoke with a tremor to his words. "Let us in."

There were sniggers and sneers from the group of greasers. "No means no, kid. Get lost," the ringleader spoke, leaning in close to Sicheng where he stood huddled behind Kun. "Before I make you wish you were never born. You don’t wanna fuck with me today."

Kun scoffed. "You wouldn't hurt us."

The ringleader raised a skeptical eyebrow at Kun, before stepping back, rolling up the sleeves of his leather jacket. "Grab him, boys."

Before Kun had the time to process the instruction, a pair of arms grabbed him from behind. He pulled, trying to break free, but it was to no avail. With the older boys being bigger and stronger, Kun's struggles were useless. Terror flooded his system; he had been wrong. The greasers weren't afraid to hurt him. They hadn't even hesitated. He had gravely misjudged their threat levels. As Kun grappled with the older boys, Sicheng watched. As if in slow-motion, Kun saw a fist, tightly curled, thrusting towards him, marked with a dark birthmark.

He heard the crack in his jaw before he felt the blinding pain. The pain was white-hot; it spread throughout his face, scalding his bones and making him groan. The greaser hit him again, and again, busting his nose. Kun felt dizzy with the pain, and his vision blurred.

"Let him go!" Kun heard Sicheng stick up for him as he went limp in the greasers' iron hold. "Let him go, you… y-you…"

The greaser laughed. "Spit it out, kid."

"You bitch!" Sicheng managed, almost panting with the effort.

Kun looked up to see the greaser gaping - Sicheng had managed to genuinely shock him. There was a fire in his eyes that Kun noticed despite his hazy vision. Still detained, Kun watched as the greaser reached into his leather jacket. He saw a silver flash, and naively wondered why he would wield a comb in such a threatening way.

It wasn’t until Sicheng was on his knees, crouched over and clutching his abdomen, that Kun realised it hadn’t been a comb.

“Jesus Christ,” gasped the greaser holding Kun back. He stepped back, releasing Kun, who fell onto his hands and knees.

“S-Sicheng,” Kun gasped, unable to breathe. Sicheng’s blood poured onto the pavement, and Kun felt it on his hands, warm, as he crawled towards his brother. Distantly, Kun noticed the crowd of greasers disperse, fast, but all he could focus on was Sicheng.

“Ambulance-” Kun choked out, unsure who he was calling to. “Somebody get an ambulance!”

Kun caught his brother as he collapsed, wheezing. “Sicheng, no- I- you can’t-”

Sicheng’s eyelids were heavy and they struggled to remain open. Kun knew it was too late - there was too much blood on the ground, on Kun. Sicheng went limp in his arms, his eyes went glassy. Kun screamed.

Kun suffered from a dark and heavy grief after losing Sicheng. The world seemed bleak and pointless for some time. He couldn’t understand why he was being made to live in this world, a world without his brother and best friend. What cruel hands of fate would ever take away such a young, innocent life? Plagued by nightmares, Kun trudged through the next few years.

However, as is inevitable when it comes to the resilient nature of mankind, Kun managed to move on. He went to therapy, vanquished his demons, and held Sicheng close to his heart. He stepped out of the shadow that grief had cast upon him, and vowed to live a better life than the one Sicheng had, the one that was cut far too short. He worked hard, went to a good college, and moved out of the area that was haunted by nightmares of gangs and crime.

Sixteen years after losing his brother, Kun had made quite a life for himself. He taught literature to wealthy children at a prestigious private school. The school was nothing like the one he and Sicheng had attended in their youth. Kun taught the children of politicians, CEO’s, people with money. The students Kun taught were free of leather jackets and motorcycles, and their pockets had never seen switchblade knives. They thrived in an environment that nurtured its students, looked after them and educated them. Kun lived a calm life, a stable life. He went to work each day and there wasn’t a steel-toed boot or studded leather glove in sight. He was in peace -

Monday.

Until that week. Kun rubbed his eyes as he yawned, stretching his legs, stiff from sitting at his kitchen table for such a long time. Not a single nightmare about his brother’s death for fourteen years, and now, out of the blue… Kun had dreamed of Sicheng’s death every night for a week. It was as puzzling as it was concerning. Kun blinked tiredly, looking up at the clock on the wall of his kitchen. He jumped - he had been sitting there all night. He stood, going to his window and pulling back the curtains. It was true; morning light illuminated the dew drops on his lawn, which was littered with small birds twittering away to each other. He put on another pot of coffee; it was only an hour until he had to leave for work.

Kun had had the week from hell. Each dream had been different; in some, Sicheng roared at Kun, blood gurgling from his mouth as he cursed his brother for failing to save him; in others, Kun was stabbed alongside his brother. Some dreams were a perfect replica of the actual events. One thing remained unchanged, though. Kun never saw the face of the attacker. He knew it was just a matter of his brain blocking out details to protect him, but it frustrated him at times. Kun could never hunt the man down, not even if he wanted to. He could walk past the man on the street and be none the wiser.

His house had begun to feel like a prison; he had spent each night either waking in a cold sweat, or sipping coffee at his kitchen table when the threat of nightmares was too daunting for him to even lie down. And he had spent his days recuperating. A dreadful headache had been afflicting him, and he had taken the whole week off work. Now, however, he knew he had to return. Though still exhausted, and with a dull pounding tormenting his head, Kun was very aware of how easy it was to slip back into a depressive slump. He believed that the normalcy of his work environment would soothe him, and that the darkness that had built up in his home could be shed by a nice, regular day at work.

Or so he thought.

Kun felt uneasy throughout his day at the school; there was a darkness hanging in the air, albeit a darkness only himself picked up on. He coasted through the day, serving mediocre lessons and dodging his students’ questions of, “Where have you been, Mr Qian?” and “Were you sick, Mr Qian?”

Something was off. There were dark clouds that lingered at the edges of his vision, always staying in his peripheral, never quite coming into view. There were cold spots that sent chills down his spine, and whispers that were too distant to decipher. Kun tried to brush off his paranoia as a lingering side effect of the built-up sleep deprivation he was facing, but he simply couldn’t deny the fact that something just felt wrong.

All too soon, the school day ended. Students filtered out of the building, and Kun was alone with his thoughts yet again. Resting his forehead on the cool wooden surface of his desk, he allowed himself a very self-indulgent groan, an attempt to release his frustration and restlessness. It didn’t work - not that he actually thought it would. Kun knew that he could use the excuse of catching up on work to remain in his classroom for a good few hours. However there was a limited amount of work he could stay behind to carry out, and he would have to return home soon enough, back to the darkness and the nightmares.

Kun stood, stretching his aching muscles, and idly looked out of his classroom window. Winter was approaching - though only just past four in the afternoon, a grey gloom was already beginning to fall as the sky darkened. He would go home now, he decided. At least there he could set the fire going, change into a warm sweater, and make himself dinner as he worked. Kun donned his favourite brown coat, picked up his worn briefcase, and departed his classroom.

“Mr Qian.” Kun stopped on the way to his car when he heard his name. His head whipped around at lightning speed; one could say he was a little on-edge.

“Principal Suh, hello,” Kun greeted his boss.

“You’re feeling better, I hope?” the principal spoke as he caught up with Kun, who faked a smile and nodded. “Great. I was hoping to catch you tomorrow morning but since I’ve got you now; there’s a transfer student, he’ll be in your first-period class tomorrow. I only feel the need to warn you because…” the principal paused, taking a measured sigh, as if trying to find the best words to use. “Well, he’s a bit of a problem child, it seems.”

Kun nodded and smiled at all the correct intervals, clenching a fist inside his pocket to cope with the frustration of how badly he wanted to get home.

“Nothing we can’t handle,” the principal continued, “Nothing we haven’t seen before. Rich kid lashing out to get daddy’s attention.” Kun gave a cynical laugh. “Huang Renjun. I’ll give you his file tomorrow morning.”

Huang Renjun.

Kun recognised that name from somewhere. He began to think back, but was pulled sharply from his thoughts by a searing pain in his jaw. It was deeply reminiscent of the injury he suffered from all those years ago, during his brother’s accident; the dislocated jaw he sustained when the wretched greaser had hit him.

“Right,” Kun commented distractedly, plastering that fake smile upon his face once again. “See you tomorrow, Principal Suh.” The man smiled, giving Kun a hearty pat on the back before departing.

Kun hurried to his car. The pain in his jaw was worrying, and it only became more intense with each passing moment. He couldn’t think what could’ve brought this on - surely not repercussions from his previous injury, which had healed fine and hadn’t shown a single problem in sixteen years. He drove home, the ache hanging over him like a thick fog. Once there, Kun fell into his bed, passing out just as the pain became paralysing.

Tuesday, 6:03am

Kun awoke the next morning, feeling as though he hadn’t slept a wink, despite the thirteen hours he had under his belt. Groggily, he brought a hand up to his jaw, rubbing it tentatively. No more pain. That was relieving. Still, even with the lack of pain, he wouldn’t consider the morning particularly pleasant thus far.

Kun had dreamed again that night. Another nightmare replaying Sicheng’s death. This dream, however, had been different from any other before. The faceless entity who stabbed his brother had a name. The name was never spoken, never outright stated, but Kun knew it to be true; his name was Huang Renjun.

Kun sat up, rubbing his tired eyes. He had a bad feeling. Come on, Kun, be rational, he willed himself. This was just his brain feeding the day’s information into his dream. Obviously there was no link between Kun’s new student and the bastard who killed his brother sixteen years ago - obviously. The logical part of Kun’s brain believed this completely. But he had a gut feeling that something was very, very wrong. He couldn’t shake the feeling, and it laid heavy in his stomach like a stone. He couldn’t shake it as he made breakfast, and he couldn’t shake it as he washed his face and dressed for work. It overpowered even the pounding in his head, which was rather powerful itself.

Kun knocked back some painkillers; he couldn’t take another day off, as he had used up all his paid sick days until the end of the semester. Even if he did have another sick day available, Kun didn’t think he would take it. He had a real feeling of dread, entirely surrounding Huang Renjun, transfer student and alleged problem child, guest and visitor to Kun’s nightmares. Call it morbid curiosity, but Kun had to meet the boy. He wondered if these feelings would go away once he met the student. Kun imagined it, all dread and darkness dissipating when he saw that Huang Renjun was just a regular teenage boy, albeit a little troubled.

Maybe it was just the pessimistic devil on his shoulder, but he doubted it. Everything lined up just a little too nicely for his liking - the return of his nightmares, the unshakable feelings of both dread and paranoia, the ache in his jaw, and the entrance of this child. God, Kun felt like a madman, but it truly felt linked to him.

A while later, Kun was still pondering these things as he paced up and down the staff room, clutching his coffee mug a little too tightly.

“Morning, Kun.”

The greeting was innocuous, harmless. But Kun, like a skittish horse, jumped out of his skin and allowed his mug to fall to the ground, shattering. Kun sighed.

“Woah, sorry,” Yukhei apologised, surprised and worried. “Didn’t mean to scare you there.”

“It’s okay,” Kun waved it off with a shaky smile. “Way too much caffeine in my system.”

Yukhei, gym teacher and Kun’s friend, silently helped him clean up the mess. Kun was thankful, and displayed his appreciation with another smile that he hoped seemed genuine.

Kun looked up, after sweeping up some smaller shards, to find Yukhei looking at him inquisitively. “Are you doing okay?” the taller man asked.

“I- Yeah. Yeah, I’m doing fine.” Even to his own ears, Kun didn’t put on a very convincing show.

“Burnout is a real thing, bro. You gotta take care of yourself.”

Kun’s heart raced a little, at the receival of some genuine human concern. He hadn't realised the effect it had had upon him, isolating himself for that week-long period. Kun nodded, trying hard not to tear up. “Thanks, Yukhei.”

“I think Principal Suh was looking for you, by the way,” Yukhei mentioned offhandedly.

The kid’s file - Kun had completely forgotten. In a display of perfect timing, the bell sounded, signalling the beginning of first period.

“Shit,” muttered Kun.

Yukhei gave Kun a supportive pat on the back. “We should have a catch up soon, man. You know where I am if you need anything.”

With that, Yukhei was gone, presumably to teach a class, and Kun followed after him, out into the crowds of tired, blathering teenagers. He supposed he’d just have to read the file whenever Principal Suh was free to contact him.

Kun’s classroom was full by the time he reached it - had he really taken that long? he wondered distantly. His students were a little rowdy despite the early hour, seizing the lack of supervision and taking full advantage of it, chatting to each other noisily. They hadn’t noted his arrival yet, so Kun took the opportunity to stand in the doorway for a moment, unseen and undetected. He glanced around the room, and his eyes fell upon his new student easily.

Huang Renjun. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Where his classmates dressed appropriately in the uniformed navy blazers, Renjun wore a very prominent black leather jacket. Kun swallowed nervously. The boy was facing away from Kun, speaking to his peers, but he knew it was him. Taking a shaky breath, Kun stepped into his classroom, pushing through the panic brought on by one of his triggers. The leather jacket, far too reminiscent of his youth and the traumas he endured there, had had a profound effect on him, but he had the necessary coping mechanisms to deal with it. He inhaled deeply, paused, and exhaled.

Kun cleared his throat as he entered the room, and the chatter quietened. “Excuse me,” he spoke, his voice clear and bold, pointedly avoiding looking at the boy. “I know you’re new here, but you can’t wear that in class.” Still keeping his gaze away from the student, Kun removed his coat and pressed the power button to boot up his computer.

Huang Renjun remained silent, although another student, Haeun, spoke up. “What are you talking about, Mr Qian? He’s wearing the uniform.”

Kun blinked, finally taking another look at Renjun. The boy had turned around and was, in fact, complying entirely with the uniform code. Blazer included. No leather jacket to be seen. A few students snickered at Kun’s mistake. Luckily, he knew he wouldn’t get mocked too much; most of his students respected him highly. He was well-liked, generally. They would let this mistake pass.

Renjun wasn’t looking at Kun. His gaze was pointed straight down towards his desk, face hidden behind long bangs.

“Oh. Right. I apologise, it must’ve been a trick of the light.” Kun gave a sincere apology. Though he was paranoid, exhausted, filled with dread, he wasn’t going to forego his manners.

“No worries, sir,” Renjun forgave him easily. He sounded like a regular teenager, Kun thought, although he wasn’t sure what else he expected. The student looked up at Kun, using his hand to flick his hair out of his face. Kun noted the mark on his hand, the dark birthmark. He began to feel dizzy; he knew that mark.

Out of nowhere, Kun felt that pain again - that white-hot, blinding bite in his jaw. It reached out its burning tendrils, spreading all throughout his face. Kun stepped back, staggering almost, as he cupped his jaw apprehensively. Kun was still looking at Renjun, who moved his stare, looking directly into Kun’s eyes.

Renjun’s eyes were black. No whites, no iris. Pure, solid black.

Though Kun didn't think it was possible, the pain intensified. Grey spots danced across the classroom as his vision went spotty, fizzling like static on a television. Kun swayed, reaching out to grab the edge of his desk for support but missing it entirely, catching thin air instead. Heavy as a stone, Kun fell to the ground, passing out.

The last thing he saw was Huang Renjun glaring at him, a malicious smile on his face.

Tuesday, 9:53am

Kun's eyes snapped open. The fluorescent lights above his head were harsh, and he winced, blinking. He was lying down; where was he?

"Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling, Mr Qian?" The school nurse, Joohyun. Right. He had passed out in class.

Kun sat up abruptly. Huang Renjun - that piercing gaze, the menacing grin.

Nurse Joohyun spoke to him again. "You passed out during first period. Do you remember that, Mr Qian?"

"Yes," Kun confirmed, rubbing his jaw and reminiscing of the pain prior to his fainting spell. It was now entirely painless. "Migraine," Kun materialised his excuse on the spot, "They've been bothering me lately."

"Ah," Joohyun nodded in sympathetic understanding, talking as she prepared Kun a cup of water and passed it to him. "Nasty things. You should go home and rest for the remainder of the day. Will you be able to drive yourself home?"

"Yes, thank you." Kun didn't realise how thirsty he was until the water passed his lips. He drank it gratefully.

Nurse Joohyun departed, leaving Kun in the quiet once again. He finished his water and left the school with haste. Once in his car, he allowed himself to fall apart a little, unseen. When he threw his head into his hands, he found that he was shaking, trembling. Was this it? Was he going insane?

No. Kun’s mind was sharp. He knew it was still intact. He always had been a logical man, and so he remained. He only believed in what he saw, what he knew to be the complete truth. And even now, when the very truths of reality had become so dark and twisted, he knew that what his mind believed was the absolute truth.

He kept his eyes trained directly on the road, focused straight ahead as he thought. He had to be rational here. In completely untenable circumstances, Kun had to remain tenable. In this utterly illogical situation, Kun had to think logically.

He laid the facts out in front of him: sixteen years ago, his brother was stabbed. He suffered from terrible grief. He went to therapy, grew up, the nightmares went away. He worked hard, got a good job, and moved on. Everything was okay. Right?

Then the nightmares returned. A new student arrived at his school, Huang Renjun. He started getting splitting pains in his jaw, right where that bastard punched him before murdering his brother. The student featured in his nightmares. He had the same birthmark as that killer. Kun made eye contact with Renjun and passed out. And the student had looked at him with that expression, that malicious smile. A look of pure evil.

And so, illigocial, irrational, implausible, untenable as it was, Kun knew it to be true. Sixteen years ago, Huang Renjun murdered Sicheng. And now, sixteen years later, Huang Renjun was a student in Kun’s class, not having aged a day.

Kun was home before he knew it. He went inside, but didn’t rest. He didn’t sleep, didn’t close his eyes for longer than a blink until the next morning.

Wednesday.

Kun felt unsafe in the school. He was angry; how dare this entity make him feel so uncomfortable in his own place of work? He felt the lingering darkness, even when he was surrounded by students and faculty. It smothered him like a blanket of smoke, impossibly heavy and making him choke.

Kun wasn’t teaching Huang Renjun’s class that day. Yet he was still terrified. Paranoia tinged his vision, altered his very perception of reality; every student that entered his classroom was Renjun, until he blinked and they weren’t. Every sudden movement was a punch flying towards his jaw, until he shook himself and there was no threat. He was completely on edge all day.

While Kun was exhausted, he was also overwhelmed with the energies of a thousand different emotions. He was terrified, paranoid, furious, devastated. He couldn’t believe that he was back here, replaying Sicheng’s death in his mind over and over. This piece of shit, this monster - he was here solely to fuck with Kun. And the worst part of it was that he was succeeding. Kun felt defiant. He couldn’t let this thing ruin him. Not for a second time.

Kun looked around. The sun was shining brightly, but he didn’t feel its warm rays. He stepped on a piece of bright pink bubblegum, flattened on the pavement, but his shoes didn’t stick. He looked up; thirteen-year-old Sicheng was looking back at him.

Oh, fuck. Not again.

Kun wished he could grab his younger brother by the arm and march him back home, stopping the imminent events before they even happened. But the picture was already in motion. Before Kun knew it, he and Sicheng were stood before the greaser gang.

“Diner’s ours today. Turn around,” barked the ringleader, Huang Renjun.

Wait, Huang Renjun?

Surely enough, the boy from Kun’s class was in front of him, in all his greaser glory - leather jacket donned, hair slicked back, snaggletooth displayed in a mean snarl. Slowly, the other greasers melted away, ceasing to exist in this dreamland. Even Sicheng evaporated. Only Kun and Renjun remained.

“What the fuck do you want with me?” Kun asked, his voice dripping with equal parts anger and desperation.

Renjun shrugged, smiling smugly. He looked as though he were playing his favourite game. “You’re fun to mess with, Kun.”

“Fuck off,” Kun bit back. “Haven’t you messed with me enough?”

Renjun laughed. And laughed, and laughed. The hideous melody went on for far too long, and Kun winced at the sound. “I’ve barely even begun messing with you, Kun! Wait and see, how depraved you’ll get. People do funny things when you push them far enough.”

Renjun stepped closer to Kun. Somehow, the child towered above him. “And I- Can’t- Wait-” each word was punctuated by a tap on Kun’s nose, “To see what you’ll do.”

Kun tried to slap his hand away, but missed. “You’re sick,” he spat, “You’re a monster.”

“Well, duh,” Renjun scoffed. “You’re just stating the obvious here, Kunny.”

“Get the fuck away from me,” Kun hissed, stumbling backwards. He turned, running down streets that were so familiar yet so distant to him.

“You can run,” Renjun’s voice followed him, “But you’ll never escape.”

Kun woke with a start, panting in his bed. His usual calming mantra of “It’s just a dream,” did nothing that night. Kun knew that it was far more than a petty nightmare. This was real - all too real.

Thursday, 11:12am

Kun had Renjun’s class again that day, and he was determined not to let the child hurt him. He had it figured out, or so he thought; don’t look the kid in the eyes, don’t speak to him, don’t even acknowledge his presence. And then Kun would be safe. This was all a game to Renjun, and Kun would not be playing. He simply would not engage.

The class began relatively smoothly. Though it was late morning, the sun hid behind thick clouds which produced a healthy drizzle, darkening the world and giving the background noise of rain against the classroom windows, pitter patter. Kun worked hard to ignore the heavy weight that hung over him, and the dark energy that Huang Renjun exuded from the back of the room. Nobody else seemed to pick up in it, but Kun sure as hell did. He could've collapsed under its pressure, it was so heavy. But he remained strong, resisting toughly against its darkness.

Kun gripped a paperback tightly in his hand. Macbeth. A text he knew well, and found easy to teach.

"So," Kun explained to his class, "As she desperately tries to rub away this invisible bloodstain, we see Lady Macbeth-"

"Sir." Kun was interrupted by Renjun. He ignored it.

"We see Lady-"

"SIR," Renjun interrupted again, raising his voice.

Kun looked around the classroom. Nobody else seemed perturbed by the boy's yelling, nobody so much as batted an eyelid. They all looked rather bored, staring off into space or doodling in their notebooks. Part of Kun wondered whether anyone else had actually heard what he did.

He gave a level sigh. "What is it?" he answered the boy. Kun refused to speak his name, refused to even look at him. He kept his eyes directed down towards the book in his hands, and he noticed his knuckles turn white with their grip.

"Why are you staring at me?" Renjun's tone was lazy, playful. He was toying with Kun. Driving him to his limit? Daring him to snap?

"I'm not staring at you," Kun responded, remaining calm. It wasn't easy; Renjun's darkness was overwhelming, pulsating in the air, making Kun's head throb. It brought out the worst in Kun. Oh, how badly he wanted to throw the boy across the room. But he wouldn't. He would stay calm.

"Yes, you are," Renjun argued, and Kun could hear the smirk in his voice.

"I'm not," Kun denied.

"You are," Renjun returned.

Kun dropped his book, which fell with a slap onto his desk. "I haven't glanced at you once this whole lesson," he snapped. Kun cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure - if one could consider this shaky state composed. "We see Lady Macbeth's descent into madness. Now, can anyone tell me-"

"Well that's strange."

"Can anyone tell me how-"

"Why are you avoiding me, Kun?"

"Huang, go to the principal's office."

As soon as Kun spoke that name, the deep, dark energy that had been smothering Kun for the past twenty minutes permeated his body, penetrating his very soul. He shuddered. It was dark; so very dark. It was as if by speaking his name, he had let the beast touch him. He had let him inside, he had been infected.

"Fine," Renjun said, standing up. His desk was empty, unlike the students that surrounded him. He had no notebook, no notes. No pencil case, no pens. With nothing to gather, he marched straight to the door.

Kun, in a moment of weakness, or perhaps just a moment of pure stupidity, glanced at the boy for a split second before he slammed the classroom door behind him. A split second was all it took.

Again, Renjun's eyes were fully black. He grinned at Kun, but it was very much unlike the menacing grimace he had displayed a few days prior. His teeth were bared, rows and rows of razor-sharp fangs, needle-like in nature. They were sheer white, polished and shining, piercing Kun's heart from ten feet away.

The door slammed, shutting him out, but that split second was long enough to instill fear in Kun's deepest core, absolute terror. The external darkness eased a little once he was gone, returning to a low hum of evil energy, but Kun was shaking as he resumed the lesson.

As expected, Renjun's behaviour had gone entirely unnoticed by the rest of the class. They didn't even seem disturbed by Kun's raised voice - he was extremely glad about this. He had a deep integral belief that it was wrong to yell at his students. He would have been kicking himself. But he knew Huang Renjun wasn't a student. It wasn't a teenage boy, it was something dark, dangerous. a powerful entity from god-knows-where.

Kun gave his students a task to complete at their leisure, and took a seat at his desk. He gripped the heavy oak, trying to still his shaking hands. Maybe he ought to go back to therapy, he considered. But where would he even start? With the death of his brother? With the return of his nightmares? With the entrance of Huang Renjun.

No, he dismissed the idea. No competent therapist would believe him - he would be sectioned and medicated after a single session. Plus, whatever was going on was solely between him and Renjun; it was completely unseen and unacknowledged by anybody else.

Kun sounded delirious, even to himself. Nothing in science or logic could possibly provide an explanation for what was happening. But he knew it was real. He knew. Huang Renjun was something cruel, something sick. Something that had crawled right out of hell, directly to Kun's doorstep to torture him. He would figure this out, he vowed. He would rid himself of this beast.

Thursday, 3:49pm

The end of the day - Kun had made it. He let himself relax in his desk chair, leaning back and closing his eyes. He had to admit, he was rather proud of himself. Yes, he’d had a minor run-in with the boy, but he’d managed to diffuse the situation and rid himself of the problem. And, more importantly, he hadn’t passed out this time. Kun scoffed at the hilarity of it all - what a ridiculously low standard for a good day, reaching 3pm without suffering a fainting spell. He would go home and treat himself, he decided, by cooking a comforting stir-fried beef dish.

Knock, knock, knock.

Kun sat forwards with a jolt, gripping his desk tightly for some form of stability. He hated living in this near-constant state of fight-or-flight - it could easily be a quiet freshman, coming to ask questions they were too shy to raise in class. It could have been a colleague, a parent, any number of harmless guests. Despite all of the possibilities, Kun’s mind went to the worst place. He was certain he knew who it was. God, don’t let it be him.

The door swung open in a dreadfully slow manner. Pale fingers wrapped themselves around the door, which gave way to reveal none other than Huang Renjun; just Kun’s luck.

“What do you want?” Kun asked the boy, hackles raised.

Renjun didn’t respond. He closed the door behind him, and the click sent shivers down Kun’s spine - what was he doing? Kun could only watch, frozen, as the boy moved. He grabbed a chair from behind a desk, and brought it to Kun’s desk. The shiny metal squealed as it was dragged across the floor, making Kun wince. Renjun sat on the chair backwards, facing Kun and leaning his arms on the backrest. He rested his head on his arms, looking up at his teacher. He was the picture of innocence; wide eyes, a small mischievous smile present on his lips. Kun only sat in silence, waiting for the boy to act. He was action-ready, prepared to bolt (or even fight) should Renjun do anything drastic.

Kun wasn’t sure how many minutes passed before Renjun spoke. Until that point, they had simply been staring at each other, Kun with a panicked look in his bloodshot eyes and Renjun clearly enjoying the effect he was having on the older male. “I’m sorry for upsetting you today,” Renjun said. Kun didn’t reply, only moving his hands to his thighs, digging his nails inwards to ground himself. “Why do you have it out for me?” Renjun spoke again.

To an outsider, the scene would have been simply heartwrenching. Renjun, a very obviously damaged adolescent who had been hurt by the world many times, looking his teacher in the eye and asking why, pleading almost, begging to be treated right for once in his young life. He sounded like a sad, broken young man; innocent, confused, curious.

Kun knew it was a ruse.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Kun denied, his voice low and flat. He gathered some papers on his desk and shuffled them. He busied himself, so as not to get lost within Renjun’s dark energy again. If he were to pass out here, completely alone in the classroom, he had no idea what would become of him.

Renjun continued his sad little boy pretense, flashing dark puppy-dog eyes up at Kun. “I didn’t do anything to you,” he cooed. “I’m just a kid, right?”

Kun was certain that Renjun was playing games with him now. He knew that Kun knew. “You’re not just a kid,” Kun snapped, snarling at the boy in front of him. He threw the papers back down on his desk, rolling backwards in his chair to put distance between himself and the child. The sky opened up all of a sudden, rain pouring from the heavens.

“C’mon, don’t be mean,” Renjun drawled. “Play along, Kun. I’m just a kid… Right?”

“I’m going home,” Kun stated abruptly, standing up and preparing to remove himself from the situation. Renjun began to cackle, but Kun did everything he could to shut the boy out. He picked up his briefcase and slung his coat over his arm. A dash of thunder cracked through the sky, and Kun jumped.

“I left you a surprise there,” Renjun spoke, his voice playful.

Kun turned, running out of his classroom and sprinting down corridors. What the fuck had that bastard done to his house? He was barely even aware of the rain once he reached the school’s exit, though it drenched him in a matter of seconds. In the mad dash to his car, his hair fell flat with the rain, sticking to his forehead, and his shirt clung to his body, turning see-through. He rifled through his coat pockets, hunting for his car keys.

To the stray students that lingered after school hours, Kun probably looked deranged. But others’ perceptions of him were the least of his worries at that moment. He had no idea what Renjun was capable of - he had no idea what Renjun even was. A ghost? A demon? Something else? He truly didn’t know. He had to get home, and fast.

Kun was panting when he reached his house, worked up into a complete frenzy of anxiety and agitation. He swung into his driveway hastily, not wanting to lose any precious time perfecting his parking. Half on the driveway and half on his lawn, he stepped out of his car, staggering.

His front door had been completely torn off its hinges. Kun’s hands met his hair, tugging in helplessness. The door itself was laying haphazardly inside the doorway - if you could even call it a door any more. It was in two pieces, ripped apart. Shards of glass and wood were discarded all around. What the fuck had the monster done?

Kun dreaded to think what this looked like to his neighbours. The elderly couple to the left of him must have been terrified to see that beast rip through his house like a hurricane - how had the police not been called yet?

Kun gritted his teeth as he entered his house. He knew he had drawn the curtains that morning, but they had been pulled shut since. He squinted, eyes adjusting to the darkness as he fumbled for the light switch with shaky hands. He almost whimpered when the light flickered on. His armchair had been flipped, and his couch was torn, littered with slash marks, made by a knife or even a pair of claws. Kun looked around the room in horror - this was his home. He felt so attacked, so violated.

His eyes fell upon the mirror that hung above his fireplace, and he was forced to hold onto his ruined couch to save his buckling knees. Scrawled across it, in burning crimson, was his brother’s name, “SICHENG.”

Kun couldn’t breathe. He looked through the letters to his reflection. He looked every bit as distraught as he felt. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks, which he supposed he hadn’t, not properly. He looked like a man whose life was falling apart.

His home wasn't a safe place for him any more. Physically nor emotionally. Kun darted around his house, grabbing an old duffle bag and filling it with essentials - a change of clothes, his toothbrush, phone charger. He supposed he didn't need his keys, not when any old stranger could wander inside from the streets. After a moment of deliberation, he threw in his largest kitchen knife too.

Fifteen minutes later, Kun pulled up at a dying establishment, parking his car a little more neatly this time. Elliot Motel read the faded sign, desperately in need of a paint job. The place was deserted - Kun wouldn’t have been surprised to see a tumbleweed rolling past. But it was remote, and it was a place away from his home where he could lay low and hide out until he figured out what to do.

The bored receptionist hadn’t spared Kun a second glance, for which he was grateful. Once in his allocated room, he double-locked the door and pulled the curtains tightly shut. He didn’t even dare turn on the light, for fear of the yellow glow being visible through the curtains. Although it would come as a shock to him if the place even had working electrics. The dark was better; it gave him a sense of anonymity, and it kept the cockroaches hidden from his view.

Kun perched on the end of the bed, resting his head in his hands. He could hear his heart hammering, the pulsating sound rattled around his head and he could feel it. He couldn’t think straight - his only emotion was blind panic. He leapt up from the bed, too much energy to stay seated. He paced back and forth in the dark, almost tearing out his hair in terror.

Hours passed but Kun couldn’t settle. His brain was going a mile a minute, darting from one place to the next. He was frazzled, and he had no idea what the fuck he was supposed to do. He was angry, enraged that this demon would fuck up his life and his home like this. He was terrified, and he felt as though he may be ambushed or attacked any minute. He couldn’t think straight. And exactly as the clock struck midnight, the phone in his dingy motel room began to ring.

Kun yelped, the harsh trilling ring boring into his soul and making him jump. He scrambled to the old rotary phone, tightly gripping the handle and pulling it close to his ear. He heard nothing at the other end, other than very faint static.

“Hello?” Kun spoke. His own voice shocked him - he sounded so unstable, like a scared little boy. The same scared little boy who would wake up from nightmares of losing his brother all those years ago.

A rattling noise came out of the receiver. After a few seconds, Kun realised it was the sound of somebody breathing. Even yet ragged breaths, loud and crackly through the ancient telephone. Kun knew exactly who it was.

“I know it’s you, bastard,” he hissed into the phone. He was met with more silence. Kun was furious. This monster was ruining him - look at what he’d turned him into. A grown man, a man who was esteemed and well-respected. Crouched on the floor of a dingy motel, clutching a telephone, his once neat shirt and trousers now rumpled and sticky with sweat. This couldn’t go on any longer, Kun decided.

“Meet me at the school. 3am. We’re ending this.”

Thursday, 2:34am.

Kun was ready. It hadn't been easy - he'd been through hell and back - but he was prepared. He knew what had to be done, and he was willing to do it.

In the hours since the dreadful phone call which had riled him up immensely, Kun had darted all over town.

To the library, where he had left a broken window in his wake (and he could only hope that his makeshift mask would be enough to save him from breaking and entering charges). He had encountered a dusty section he had never noticed before, which was strange in itself. Being a teacher of literature, the library was a place he frequented, though this section he had never happened upon. He was convinced it only bore itself to those in need, but that fact was neither here nor there. He had rifled through the section, leaving pages torn and books scattered, something he never would have done in his normal life. But he did the research he needed to do, and got the exact knowledge he required.

He had driven back to his house, which no longer felt like a home, to pick up one of the few precious belongings of Sicheng's he had left - necessary for the sacrifice. He had paroled the streets, searching for a stray animal. He never would've harmed an animal but the blood of an innocent creature was needed. He pulled though, apologising deeply to the stray dog which yelped and bit at him.

And there he stood, in the middle of his classroom, clutching his duffle bag which was filled with the most mismatched assortment of offerings. Raising Demons, the book which had proven most informative, Sicheng's red woollen scarf, a vial full of dog's blood, the butcher knife from his kitchen. He looked like a hot mess and he knew it; his shirt was untucked, most of the buttons now undone, and he had lost his tie long ago. He was panting, and he couldn't seem to find his breath no matter how long he stood still.

He looked around his classroom. It was empty, but soon that would change - and that wasn't a comforting thought by far. God, he was wasting time, he thought as he stood there dumbly. But where the fuck did he start?

He ran to action, shoving away the desks that surrounded him, creating a clearing in the centre of the room. He threw open the cupboard at the back of the room and pulled out the old stereo that lay dormant in there. He messed with the dials, twiddling them back and forth until static blared out. He flinched at the sound, but it was no louder than the blaring panic that had been reverberating around his skull lately.

Not wanting to waste another minute, Kun sprinted to the front of the room, grabbing a marker pen and setting to work on the floor. As meticulously as he could with his shaking hands, Kun drew a pentagram, tainting the floor of his beloved classroom. He yanked open his duffle bag, trembling as he placed the items around the pentagram. He picked up the stolen novel, Raising Demons, and jumped to the page he had dog-eared.

Well, Kun thought to himself, No time like the present.

He recited the passage, focusing heavily - he couldn’t get a single word wrong. “Dark Father, hear me for my soul’s sake. I am one who promises sacrifice. I am one who seeks vengeance of the left hand. I bring blood in promise of sacrifice.”

A wind picked up in the classroom, dark clouds materialising and flying around the pentagram in a tight circle, a tornado of evil.

Kun had thought he’d witnessed true darkness in the presence of Huang Renjun; he thought he had seen what evil really was. He had been wrong. True darkness, true overwhelming power, true and pure evil, was what he had summoned before him. Renjun was nothing in comparison to this beast. Kun felt sick.

A voice spoke to him, hissing and spitting, from deep within the clouds. It was deep, grating, abnormal. “What do you ask of me?”

Kun looked down towards the ground. He didn’t want to peer too deeply into this void that had materialised - he knew that anything he saw would scar him deeply. Its energy was horrific enough. This wasn’t a sight he wanted to see. He spoke as clearly as he could, raising his voice to the demon. “Rid me of the spirit that plagues me.”

“Then give me what is mine,” the voice rumbled back.

Kun nodded, trembling. He kneeled on the floor, picked up the butcher’s knife. He placed his hand on the floor, all fingers curled under his fist apart from his pinky finger. He closed his eyes, whimpering as he braced himself. Kun raised the knife and brought it down fast. He yelped; the pain was immense, but he knew he hadn’t yet severed the bone. He took a second hit. A third. A fourth. Again, and again. As Kun screamed, the appendage finally detached.

He reopened his eyes, recognising the blood splattered across the floor as his own. He used the knife to nudge the detached appendage into the pentagram, his nausea intensifying. Blood was spurting from his hand at an alarming rate, and he clutched it close to his chest.

The voice spoke again. “It will be done.”

Kun looked to the clock in his classroom, just as it turned 3. Renjun appeared in the doorway with that now-familiar evil smile on his face. Kun’s vision was spotty, but he could still see Renjun’s grin fall instantly. He couldn’t read the expression on the thing’s face. It could have been rage. It could even have been fear.

“No,” Renjun roared. “What have you done?”

The tornado picked up, and Kun flew flat on his back with the intensity of the wind. A pinprick of light spawned in its centre and Kun had to shield his eyes from it, hiding in the crook of his elbow while his other hand was still clamped close to his chest.

“No! No! Fuck you, Qian Kun!” Huang Renjun shrieked, until… silence. Everything was still. Kun sat up, dizziness wracking his senses. For the first time since the whole ordeal began, he felt something similar to calm. The room was quiet, still, and empty, save for himself. The demon he had summoned was gone. Huang Renjun was gone. The quiet disoriented him; he felt like it had been a while since he truly experienced quiet.

Kun picked up his knife once again and cut along the bottom of his shirt, wrapping the material tightly around his stub of a finger in an attempt to slow the bleeding. He felt faint - he knew he’d lost a substantial amount of blood. He stood, staggering out of his bombsite of a classroom and stumbling into the hallway. He bent, heaving onto the floor, bile burning his throat and mouth. He probably needed to get to a hospital, but how would he explain himself?

Kun felt a pat on his back - a warm, comforting gesture. Wiping saliva from his mouth and chin, he looked up, and found himself staring into a pair of friendly brown eyes, surrounded by aged wrinkles. Something inside Kun simply knew that he was a kind figure, a peaceful figure.

“It’s gone now, son,” the old man spoke, his voice croaky. Kun merely stared at him, wide-eyed, as he talked. “I’ve had students like that one before. They feed on your energy, eat away at you. Look into your past to find the best way to torture you. But it’s gone now. It’s gone.”

Kun stood up straight, or as straight as he could manage in his current condition. He didn’t recognise the teacher standing before him. “Who are you?” he panted, squinting at the other man.

“Don’t worry about me, son, I’m long gone” the man responded with a wry smile. “I taught here long, long ago. Just listen to me - my God, son, if you take notice of one thing in your life, let it be this -” the man leaned in close to whisper in Kun’s ear. Kun closed his eyes, listening as closely as he could despite his faltering consciousness. “When you involve yourself with something like this, sometimes they come back.”

When Kun opened his eyes again, the man was gone.

Kun wobbled outside, breathing in the night air as if he’d been deprived of oxygen for weeks. It was over, the weight on his chest was gone. He could breathe. He could live. All he could do now was pick up the pieces. But the old man’s words echoed in his mind,

Sometimes they come back.

85 notes · View notes

twstarchives · 4 years

Text

Ruggie Bucchi・Voice Lines

Additional Voice Lines: Gala Couture Event Card

School Uniform - R

Unlock Card “The secret to feeling good is eating! As long as you eat, everything’ll be OK!”

Groovy “My studies, huh...? This is what’s gonna put food on my table, so I’m taking them seriously.”

Home Setting “They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, you know?”

Home Transitions “I’m busy cleaning up Leona’s room right now. What? You wanna help? Man, thanks a bunch!”

“Mages who grew up in the slums like me are pretty rare.”

“Are you sure you should be spacing out like that? Time is money, you know.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “Do you need somethin’ from me? I’ll listen if you say you’ll treat me to something.”

Home Taps “My uniform? It’s a hand-me-down from Leona. It’s a little big, but I can still wear it so it’s fine.”

“I wouldn’t mind looking after Grim if you ever need me to. How does 1000 madols an hour sound?”

“You’re hungry? If you get some ingredients together, I can whip something up for you.”

“I gotta think about what I’m going to do after I graduate and start working towards that. ‘Cause life is really long.”

“Hm, what’s up? Does Leona want something——Oh, he doesn’t? You scared me for a sec...”

PE Uniform - R

Unlock Card “I’m really good at sports. At least, better than you.”

Groovy “Alright! I think I should show my cool side to the lower grades every once in a while~”

Home Setting “Getting to run around so nimbly really is the best.”

Home Transitions “Move it, move it! We’re in the middle of cleaning out the whole dorm! ‘Cause Leona never cleans this place up himself...”

“I’m considered pretty small in my dorm. But that just means I’ve got a lot of advantages in magift.”

“I’m really confident in my endurance. If I got my eyes on my prey, it’s not gonna escape me!”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “Magift has a completely different feel when you see it live. Wanna come watch our practice sometime?”

Home Taps “Ahh, I’m hungry. I’m feeling like a whole pile of sugary donuts to dip in some milk.”

“I really respect Jack for how much physical strength he’s got. But he still has a selfish playing style.”

“Building up your strength is really important to survive a brutal environment.”

“Coach Vargas got angry today? Just compliment him on his muscles and that’ll put him right back in a good mood.”

“Now’s your last chance to enjoy yourself. Let’s hope you don’t lose all hope in everything when Coach Vargas goes and pushes you to your limit though. Shishishi!”

Lab Coat - SR

Unlock Card “I don’t care that much about looking professional, but I kinda like these snazzy lab coats.”

Groovy “You’re really clumsy. Here, hand that to me.”

Home Setting “Dirt would really stand out on this kind of white.”

Home Transitions “You should probably stay away from the Botanical Garden. If you irritate Leona during his naptime... Oo, it gives me chills.”

“Ahh, you’re using up so much good lab materials! Man, what a waste...”

“I love alchemy. But I tend to make lots of mistakes if I get too greedy. Hehe.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “Aah? I wouldn’t be able to help you with that work even if you asked me.”

Home Transition (Groovy) “You can still eat weeds if you cook them right. Huh, you actually wanna try ‘em? ...You’ve got weird taste.”

Home Taps “Jack grows a lot of cacti in his room. Maybe they could be emergency rations.”

“I can only throw together a meal with what I’ve got to work with, but I guess it’s fine as long as Leona eats it.”

“A lot of the plants they grow in the Botanical Garden could sell for really high prices. ...I don’t mean anything by that; I’m just sayin’. Shishishi!”

“I don’t really get how Riddle just dumps in spoonfuls thinking it’s ‘the right amount’ he needs.”

“Don’t touch me when your hands reek of chemicals! You’re gonna get the smell on me!”

Home Tap (Groovy) “Want me to tell you what was covered on my tests last year? I’d even give you a special friend discount.”

Ceremony Robes - SR

Unlock Card “These robes are so fancy. They really do have the feel of this school.”

Groovy “Even I look the part when I’m wearing these, don’t I?”

Home Setting “So? These actually look pretty nice on me, huh?”

Home Transitions “You’re a student at this academy but you don’t even know the history behind it? Gathering intel should always be a priority.”

“Want a keepsake photo of you in your ceremony robes? Just 1000 madols a pic! It’s a great deal!”

“Hah, I’m tired... I can’t help feeling stiff in clothes I’m not used to. How are you doin’ in them?”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “This high-quality fabric with gold embroidering, plus these decorations... How much would they all sell for?”

Home Transition (Groovy) “The ceremony today is gonna be in the Mirror Chamber. Shishishi! You look nervous. It’s cute; it’s fitting for a first-year.”

Home Taps “I’m not rich, but I’ll always like this better than being a spoiled brat who doesn’t have a problem in the world.”

“The chance of Leona coming to a ceremony is... about 50/50. But he’ll still come to the entrance and graduation ones.”

“The Headmaster takes really good care of the apple trees that grow on campus. Those apples all look so good.”

“Mages were pretty rare where I grew up. I bet they’d all wanna see what I look like now.”

“You don’t need to rush; we’ve got plenty of time before the ceremony. You’re so impatient.”

Home Tap (Groovy) “Your makeup’s all smudged. Alright, guess I’ll fix it for you. ...It’s fine, I’ve done this as a job before.”

Dorm Uniform - SSR

Unlock Card “Who stepped into my territory?”

“Oh, wow, what a cute little kitten. Did you come here to be our prey? Shishishi!”

Groovy “I could tell you how to survive at this school if you want.”

Home Setting “I feel like somethin’ fun’s gonna happen today.”

Home Transitions “The deserted feel of the Ramshackle Dorm is kinda nice, but... Savanaclaw is still my favorite.”

“The dorm uniforms really are so easy to move in. They’re not too fancy either; it’s perfect for me.”

“We’re about to have a dorm meeting right now. What, you wanna come check it out? I mean, Leona’s kind of... It depends on how you ask him.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “I’m heading to the cafeteria with Leona. Wanna come too? Having more people to run errands saves me some.”

Home Transition (Groovy) “Sure, I came to this school without a madol in my pocket... but you can always find a way to handle anything as long as you’re alive!”

Home Taps “The strong and the smart are the ones who rise to power in Savanaclaw. I like how it’s an obvious system.”

“This necklace is supposed to represent different parts of nature. Red for the sun, blue for the sky, green for the land... It reminds me of my hometown.”

“It’s important to not let your guard down in the savannah. If you’re not careful... bam! You get killed.”

“Leona works me hard, but I’m always paid the appropriate amount. It’s a give-and-take.”

“You’re really just like a puppy with how playful you are.”

Home Tap (Groovy) “There’s still so much you could do even if you can’t use magic. Want me to give you a lecture on them?”

Duo Magic Ruggie: “Use your head, Jack!” Jack: “Right! Ruggie!”

Birthday Celebration Outfit - SSR

This card was only obtainable during Ruggie’s birthday event (Apr 16 - Apr 22, 2021).

Login on Birthday “Today’s my long-awaited birthday! Course that means you’ve got a present ready for me, right? ...Wait, huh? You actually do? ...Hmm, you were so straightforward, it kinda threw me off... Well, thanks! Hehe.”

Unlock Card “I’m the king today! Is the celebration all ready to go?”

“There’s really no one worth giving presents to as much as me. I’ll be happy with anything I get!”

Groovy “Thanks for celebrating! Can I expect another fancy party next year?”

Home Setting “I’m going to make it loud and clear I’m the star today.”

Home Transitions “Jack was so annoying telling me ‘The birthday boy needs to just kick back and relax!’ It was hard shaking him off.”

“Cake tastes so good and sweet~ But as long as it keeps me filled, I don’t really have anything else to say about it.”

“I can’t believe Silver was so quick to buy me that premium pudding when I asked him for it... I’ll go crying to him next time I’m short on food money.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “The birthday parties at this school are the best! I mean, there’s so much fancy food! I’m going to stuff myself like mad.”

Home Taps “The neighborhood kids always come to visit on my birthday. ...No, not to celebrate; they’re after the food.”

“Jade gave me a high-quality towel that’s so soft to touch... I might change my mind about being okay using it.”

“Lucius showed me somewhere where lots of dandelions grow. He’s a thoughtful cat!”

“This donut pin looks so yummy. But I wish they would’ve gotten some actual ones ready.”

“Hey, I know you just pulled my tail! You’re wrong if you think I’m going to allow that just ‘cause it’s my birthday.”

Home Tap (Groovy) “Some people don’t like getting older, but I’m happy about it. Don’t take your birthdays for granted.”

Duo Magic Ruggie: “Sebek, let's hear ya shout it out!” Sebek: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUGGIE!!!”

Tutorial “Delays never bring you anything good. Let’s go.”

Lv Up “Shishishi! This is good.”

“You’re kinda weird, trying to take care of me.”

“I think I’ve gotten stronger!”

Max Lv Up “I feel like I could do anything now. Trying hard every once in a while actually might not be that bad. Hehe.”

Episode Lv Up “You really are such a softie. You might get scammed someday, you know? Well, come talk to me if that happens and I might help you out.”

Magic Lv Up “I always thought my magic would stay sucky my whole life, but... it’s kinda turned out.”

Limit Break “I think my progress is still far from over. Guess I gotta stay around you a little while longer.”

Groovy “See? The skilled ones always survive in this world. You’ve got nothing to lose being around me.”

Select Lesson “There aren’t classes on haggling or anything? This place really is a prestigious mage-training school.”

“You don’t have to get so stressed about it. You take things so seriously.”

“Which one are you gonna do? If it were me I’d pick one that’d be useful for survival.”

Lesson Start “Alright, studytime, studytime!”

Lesson End “Hah... I gotta stay caught up.”

Battle Start “This is my territory!”

Battle End “Looks like I got myself some mouth-watering prey.”

Other

Profile Quote “This world is a survival of the fittest. If you don’t eat when you can, you’re not gonna survive.”

January 2020 Trailer “Even a hyena can become king at this school.”

Countdown Poster “You’ve got some nerve stepping into our territory. Shishishi!”

Login Bonus Greeting “Oh, you made some money! Shishishi! Getting this just by coming to school everyday really is the best, huh? Make sure you don’t forget to come tomorrow either.”

Player Birthday Wish “You’re eating good food, getting all these presents, and everyone’s being so nice to you today. So you don’t really need me to send you birthday wishes on top of that, right? Kidding. Shishishi! I swear! Happy birthday!”

#twisted wonderland #ruggie bucchi #voice lines

246 notes · View notes

random-imagines-blog · 4 years

Text

Promise Me Part 2 {Reggie Mantle x Reader}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 2244 Summary: Some people aren’t taking the kindest to your budding relationship. Sequel to Promise Me, Part 1 Found Here (X)

The only thing better than hanging out with Reggie at school was the reactions from the other students. Especially your ex boyfriend Sweet Pea. Karma came around and knocked him off of his ass, just as you were hoping. Her summer fling, Josie, had dumped him for Archie Andrews, just the way that he had dumped you for her. A petty side of you was happy about that. He deserved it. He got to be grumpy around the halls of Riverdale High while you walked around with Reggie following you like some kind of lovesick puppy. After you had taken him out for his birthday, showed him a good time with a bunch of drag Queens and sugary alcohol-free drinks, he’d taken to you even more. Didn’t even complain when he had to ride bitch on the back of your motorcycle back to your snug little town.

“Are you ready for the test today?” Reggie asked, somewhat sarcastically. You had been blowing him off lately to study for this exam. You really needed to do well on it to pass this class, since you had been just cruising through it instead of trying. It was now or never.

You took your study notes out of your pocket, where they had been crumpled up for a couple of hours, and slammed them down on the cafeteria table. “You have no idea how ready I am, Mantle.” You said with a smirk. You flattered out the pieces of paper and went right back to studying them while Reggie sat beside you and made sure that your hair didn’t get into your food. You were eating without paying attention, and if he hadn’t stepped in, you probably would have eaten a lock or two. You were appreciative of it, but never knew how to show that sort of thing.

You never thought that this would have worked out. Reggie, with his range of emotions - most of them fueled by negativity, like jealousy and arrogance but once in a while, he showed you something nice. Meanwhile, your brother Jughead had once complained that you had the emotional range of a knife. But yet there was something between you two. Something more than you had ever felt with Sweet Pea. This in no way felt like a relationship out of convenience.

“When you pass, I’ll take you out to Pop’s, we’ll get milkshakes,” Reggie said, clipping your hair back for the upteenth time.

“Yay, another milkshake,” You said, deadpan as always. “We always go for milkshakes, Reg, I think that this deserves something a little more special. What about our secret place?”

“What, you showed him your stupid secret place?”A voice came from behind you. You didn’t have to turn around to know that it was Sweet Pea. Now that he didn’t have Josie to focus on, his attention had been on you again. Love notes, flowers, trying to sit next to you in class. You had told him to fuck off so many times, it might as well have become your catchphrase. But there he was, always there, right out of the corner of your eye, listening to everything that you were saying. “I’ve known you forever and you never took me there.”

“Guess you just weren’t special enough,” You said with a shrug. You got to your feet, shoved your notes back into your pocket and smiled rarely at Reggie. “Come on, walk to me class.”

“Yes ma’am,” Reggie said with a smirk, getting to his feet. He purposefully pushed past your ex boyfriend as he followed behind you, neither of you looking back. The Serpent wasn’t worth it. That was something you had come to learn and fully believed.

You wore the top that your mother had gotten you and sent in the mail. It was plain, but flowy, and didn’t have the leather look that you had come to be known for. All black t-shirts and jackets, comfortable things. But this was a special night - even to the point where you were allowing Reggie to pick you up in his car. This shirt was a dark purple color, not quite black, but still enough to where you felt yourself while wearing it.

There was a honking noise outside the trailer. You still had never let him come inside. You weren’t ashamed of the little home that you shared with your dad and your brother, but you also didn’t want to see the look of distaste that Reggie would no doubt have on his face.

With a last glimpse in the mirror, strange how feminine you looked today, you left the trailer and walked over to the car that didn’t look like it belonged in this neighborhood at all. It was too nice. And too clean. People were no doubt peeking out their windows to see who were there and who they were there for. With your usual level of confidence, you strode to the car and got inside, only to be greeted by a huge smile and an arm around your hug from Reggie Mantle. “ONE HUNDRED BABY!”

Yes, you had gotten a hundred percent on your test. That was the main reason why you were letting Reggie drive. Because you were so damn excited, that you might try to bribe one of the bartenders to put a shot into your drink. No one really messed with the gay bar, so cops were unlikely to show up. It was hard to ID people when they were dressed as the opposite gender, anyhow. “It’s not that big of a deal,” You said, shrugging his arm off and put on the seatbelt. What an unfamiliar feeling. You spent more time on bikes than you ever did in cars, and those did not come with seatbelts.

“You’re allowed to be happy and excited for things you know,” He said, his smile slightly faltering. “It’s just us. And I’ve seen you happy before.”

“It’s just embarrassing,” You muttered, sinking into the seat. “Having ... feelings.”

Reggie took that as a huge compliment, and it helped to boost his ego. “So you have feelings for me, eh?” He asked with a huge grin.

“Oh stop,” You said, rolling your eyes. “Is it such a surprise that beneath this hard exterior is just soft, pink flesh? I am still human, after all.”

“A bit,” Reggie said with a shrug, focusing his eyes on the row as he tried to find his way out of the trailer park. The streets were thin and like a maze. “You just hide them so well, it’s hard to tell you have any.”

“I wouldn’t be hanging out with you if I didn’t, you dolt.” You sunk into the comfortable leather seats of the car, letting yourself relax now that you were leaving the park. You still had to give him directions to the gay bar, but he was getting the hang of the journey. “People just suck. They break down your walls, just to hurt you so you have to build them back up and stronger. I don’t like being vulnerable.”

“People are assholes,” Reggie agreed, thinking of his on again off again thing with Veronica. He hadn’t thought much about it since you had come into his life, actually.

Rather than get into more conversations about emotions, you turned up the music and rolled down the window, sticking your head out. “Fuck standardized testing!” You yelled out as you drove past the school. Reggie laughed at that, wondering how you could go from steady as a rock to being this free and liberated within a matter of seconds. He’d never met anyone like you before. Never met anyone who truly did not give a fuck about what other people thought of them.

The bar was busy tonight. Friday nights usually were, but there wasn’t a single person there who you recognized from Riverdale. It would be hard for any of them to get in, considering you and Reggie were the only ones that were allowed in under age. Only when you weren’t around the judgmental looks of your peers did you really feel like you could be yourself. You didn’t care what other people said, it was just the fact that they were saying anything that bothered you.

You ordered more of the virgin cocktails that you liked so much, so syrupy sweet. You drained the first one quickly, and felt the sugar remaining in your system. “Dance with me,” You said to Reggie, holding your hand out to him. And he did. He came out onto the dance floor with you and the dressed up Queens and made sure that you had a damn good time.

So good a time that you didn’t notice that there was a familiar face in the crowd. And hand that was connected to the body that was connected to that face had his phone out and was recording video.

“Did you hear that they go to gay bars together?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if y/n was a lesbian. I wouldn’t want to date a guy again if he did what Sweet Pea did-”

“Reggie’s dad is going to kill him.”

“A hidden drag Queen?”

The words followed you and Reggie around the next morning as you met at your locker and he walked you to your class, just as he always did. His jaw was clenched, a vein popping in his forehead. You understood his anger - his dad would really would get pissed off about this sort of thing. You had heard the rumors. And you had seen the bruises that Reggie refused to talk about, but you never pushed the issue.

It was pushing at your own anger issues as well. You didn’t like this sort of attention - why the hell couldn’t Cheryl do something daring to get the attention onto her, the way she liked it? Burn down her house again or something. You’d give her all your money to do that at this point.

The most amazing thing though, was despite all of these looks and the rumors and the jokes, Reggie stood by your side. He picked you up from your first class, and took you to your second. And then he picked you up from there and took you to lunch. His shoulders were more tense than they usually were, and he had started to grind his teeth. Something would have to be done before both of you exploded.

Everyones eyes were on you when you stepped into the cafeteria. Even your brother’s, though they looked hurt - you never even told him about your special place. Sweet Pea, sitting beside Jughead, looked pissed. You stopped before you got in line, and Reggie bumped into you from behind. You turned around to face him, looking up into his dark eyes. You were always astounded by the sharp jawline that he had, and those cheekbones - he was a fuckin’ hunk.

“I’m bisexual, not a lesbian,” You said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Not that it’s anyone’s fucking business. And if you’re that damn concerned about Reggie, well...”

You had to stand on your tiptoes because he was so tall. You leaned against him, pressing his chest against yours, using him to steady yourself. You wrapped your arms around his neck and brought him in for a kiss that should ease any doubt in anyone’s mind.

There was a pounding sound on the edge of the room that made you startle yourself out of the bliss that Reggie’s lips had blossomed in you. Expecting it to be a teacher, you turned around, only to see Sweet Pea was raging his way towards you, the chair that he was sitting in pushed to the ground. You turned around, straightening your shoulders, ready to get into a fight with your ex-boyfriend if this was how it was going to end up. You weren’t about to let Reggie defend you, that’s not the sort of girl that you were.

“You don’t deserve her, Mantle,” Sweet Pea sneered, his nostrils flaring.

“Neither did you,” Reggie said in return. He put his arm around your waist, and you could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Get over yourself, Sweet Pea,” You said, not liking the way that they were talking as if you weren’t even there. “So what, Kevin Keller takes a video of us dancing and that, for some reason, is all of your business? I’ll be the first to admit that we aren’t as interesting as you seem to think that we are. You really want something to focus on in that video? Learn some style from those Queens, you boring peasants.”

Reggie laughed for the first time that day at your comments. You leaned back against his chest, motioning for him to back up. “Let’s go to Pop’s,” He suggested.

“Anywhere that’s not here,” You said, exchanging his arm for his hand, holding it tight as you left the cafeteria, leaving even more gossip behind you but at least it was about the kiss rather than rumors of you both being gay.

Fuck the high school rumor mill.

#Reggie Mantle #Reggie Mantle oneshot #Reggie Mantle x reader #Riverdale #Riverdale oneshots #oneshot #oneshots #reggiem #request

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honeyhellsbells · 4 years

Text

First dates with RFA +Minor Trio

Unfortunately the ask went missing with the original draft but thank you again for the request!!

Oof this turned out quite a bit longer than I had planned hehe

I just went ahead and added Jaehee as well :)

Jumin Han:

This man is suave and competent, and he has a plan for most situations...this is not one of them

„What do you mean a trip to Europe isn't a good idea?“

Of course if you had been friends with him for a longer time, you could've guessed that he was about to overplan and/or spend way too much money on your first date. After all, you are very important to him and he only wants the best for you

And while he likes control, after all, most of his life had been planned out for him from birth, he is more than willing to allow you to take the lead for now

Commoner life is fascinating to him and while he still won't leave the house without his entourage of bodyguards or his precious Driver Kim, he will let you lead him to parts of the city he had never seen before, even though he had lived here for so long

He is like a child in a candystore when he first sees the many booths and food stalls that line the busy shopping district and you can feel him stop himself from tugging you along to look at everything since he insisted on holding your hand

Buy him a cheap bracelet or a silly keychain and he will treasure it like it's worth millions, because for him it really is

An ideal first date would end in a small restaurant of your choice, with the both of you sharing the meals you had chosen before you made your way back

He insisted on bringing you home, either walking you there if you lived nearby or having Driver Kim drive you there

Of course he would still escort you to the front door, waiting for you to gather your keys and open the door before grabbing your hands once more

Even though he didn't like to admit it, he was more than touch starved and wanted nothing more than to kiss you right then and there until the both of you saw stars or join you in your home to cuddle until morning, but he instead opted for a gentle kiss to the backs of your hands before cradling your chin to press his lips against your forehead

Be prepared for the most lavish and luxurious dinner the next time you two meet for a date again

Zen/Hyun Ryu:

King of casual dates, but somehow getting drinks in the nearest bar seemed just not enough for you

And while he never really has problems with social interactions, he has fallen so hard for you that he is terrified of doing something wrong

He spends days thinking about outfits, if he should get you a gift and what kind of gift, where the two of you should go, planning for all kinds of wheather until he has the perfect plan figured out

He has picked a day that promised sunshine without any clouds for a walk in the park close to his apartment, the one with the hidden bench close to the water where you could sometimes feed the ducks, swans and fish with the feed you could buy nearby

And while it would be sunny outside, the days were still a little chilly, the temperature where you were too warm if you brought a jacket and freezing if you didn't take one, giving him more than enough reason to put an arm around you or lay his trust leather jacket on your shoulder to shield you from the cold

Then you would go to the café where they sold those cute cupcakes he had once told you about, he had even booked a table for the two of you to make sure nothing could go wrong

And if the evening was still young maybe you would want to get something to drink after all? Or maybe watch a movie at his apartment? The stars were also quite beautiful this time of the year and the roof was the perfect place to watch the constellations and make up stories for those he didn't recognize

And as the date came closer and closer he realized he had missed one tiny detail

In all of his planning he had totally forgotten to actually ask you out!

But luckily for him, you accepted of course, even though you were doubled over from laughter with tears in your eyes as he admitted his mistake

Jaehee Kang:

Obviously it's gonna be a coffee date

But not in the way you would think

Being the owner of her own café, coming up with new ideas to keep regulars and bring in new costumers often kept her up until late in the night

Luckily for her, you were more than willing to do some brainstorming and help her out in her time of need

With your hot drink of choice in your hands you went through notebook after notebook, noting down whatever came to mind until you had a formidable list of drinks and treats you wanted to try

And for the actual date you meet in the kitchen of her café that she closed for the day, baking and brewing your hearts out

While it is indeed hard work to produce product after product, often more than once to perfect them, there is never once a dull moment between the two of you, covered in a fine layer of flour, dapping icing on each other and laughing when one of you couldn't wait for the cookies to cool down before chowing down

And even if the two of you are hardly hungry after all the sugary and savory treats, Jaehee insists on cooking something small for you once you cleaned up your mess in the café and got back to her apartment

After a quick dinner and a change of clothing that you luckily brought along you relaxed a little with yet another DVD of Zen's latest musical only to fall asleep on the couch together ten minutes later

Jaehee hasn't slept that well in quite a few years

Yoosung Kim:

Couldn't choose between a study date (his grades were getting a little concerning), a coffee date or a movie so the two of you decided to combine all three of them

After all while he only wanted to spend his time listening to you talking about your life and being able to talk his worries off his chest, failing his classes was one of the biggest concerns

But after just maybe an hour or two his intelligence really began to shine, after all he used to be a straight A student for most of his school years and the only thing that had changed was his motivation

And seeing you so ecstatic when he managed to solve most of the questions without any help was more than enough to make him pull himself together

After all, if he studied by himself he would also have more time to dedicate to you and your blooming relationship

After your cups are empty and the bill is paid the two of you take a stroll through the city towards the cinema

Poor baby wants to hold your hand so badly but what if you don't want to? What if his palms are sweaty?

Just take his hand and he'll turn as red as a tomato but he'll also start beaming brighter than the sun

Chances are that whatever movie you both choose, he will either cry because it's a horror movie and he's scared, or because it's a movie with animals (which he loves soooo much), or because it's something sad

Luckily that means that he won't be in any position to make fun of you if you fare not much better or even worse than him, but at least it gives the both of you an excuse to get some comfort cuddles

Will also insist on escorting you home even if he has to take the train back

Even just a goodbye kiss on the cheek will make his soul ascend to heaven, if you ask him for a kiss on the lips he might just faint from happiness

V/Jihyun Kim:

A nature lover at heart, he would be delighted if you accompanied him to a picnic

He knows all the best places, where the shade and sun just hit perfectly, where the flowers are the brightest and most fragrant and where the view just takes your breath away

After restoring his sight and getting used to driving again, he would pick you up from your home in his fancy car, the loaded picnic basket in the trunk

It might take quite a bit of time to get to where he wanted to take you but it would absolutely worth it

You arrive at a small hill, speckled with colourful wildflowers that douse the air with a faint scent, pleasant but not too overwhelming to ruin your appetite

He insists on holding your hand and carrying the basket, after all he couldn't risk having you fall on your short trek up the hill

To be honest he was just really nervous and that small comfort of your hand in his calmed his heart just enough

Just like he promised, the view is worth the long wait to get there

You had left early in the day and arrived just as the sun was at it's highest, making the lake at the other side of the hill glitter spectacularly

He spread out the blanket under the large willow at the top of the hill that gave enough shade for a few hours

And while he had decided to put his photography on hold in favour of paints and canvases, he couldn't help himself to take a picture of you illuminated by the sun with your back to him while admiring the lake in front of you

You found the picture weeks later still saved as his lockscreen

He really outdid himself beyond compare, the food he had prepared must have taken hours!

You shared stories and jokes until early evening, watching the sun set behind the mountains in the distance, cuddled up against the rough bark of the tree, keeping each other warm with the blanket now wrapped around the two of you

While still a reserved person, he is very liberal when it comes to affection and will not hesitate to press kisses to your cheek, your temple and your hair as you sit together, only to end up carrying you back to the car as you fell asleep in his arms (for looking so lanky, photographing in the nature has made him stronger than one would imagine)

He's as gentle as he could be when you arrive at your place and he also insists on escorting you inside, after all you could still be a little drowsy from sleeping and he has to make sure you're alright

It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he is hoping for some more kisses and cuddles

Saeyoung Choi/Luciel/707:

Paranoid boy part 1

Yes he is a former secret agent gone rogue and might be on several hitlists but does that keep him from giving you the first date you deserve?

Nope

After a life of secrecy, violence and surpressing his wishes and wants he is finally free to do what he wants and he absolutely will

This child loves love and he loves fun and since he has you by his side, his 606 to his 707, his saviour and partner in crime, fun and love are almost everything he experiences all day long

He could spend hours just watching you snore away on his couch or cursing the heavens when he hacked your laptop to mess with you but he has never really thought much about what he wanted to do for a first public date

Cue Vanderwood, ever the grumpy but protective older brother he never thought he wanted (after all Saeran and you were all he needed), mumbling something about about monkeys and the circus, most likely a comment about the current state of the bunker, still as chaotic as usual, but now with two more troublemakers occupying the premises

Only the word circus stuck though and soon he's scrolling the web for a perfect opportunity to take you out for the first time

And not long after he barges into your room, his eyes sparkling and his grin bigger than you had seen it in a while as he announced that he would be taking you to the carnival a few cities over

While he made a half-hearted attempt to invite his brother and former colleague, both of them declined for different reasons

And so you both jumped in his car and zoomed away, yelling along to the awful pop songs until the fair came into view

And while this was meant as your first date, Saeyoung is a slippery boy who has never been to anything like this before and if you don't pay attention he can and will vanish in just a second, even with his vibrant red hair

But as fast as he disappears, he will appear again, never once missing the chance to scare you half to death before offering you whatever treat he had managed to get his hands on now with an apologetic kiss on your forehead

He's not really sorry though, messing with you is just too fun

For the rest of the date you opt to either lace your fingers with his or hold onto his hoodie

He will still tug you around the venue but seeing the childlike wonder on his face for the simplest things, like the booth where you can fish plastic ducklings for prices or the vast amounts of candies and treats you can buy is more than worth the annoyance of being turned around every few seconds before having to jog to keep up with his brisk pace

If they have a petting zoo, good luck getting him out of there any time soon, he really loves animals even though he doesn't always know how to treat them, so if you aren't scared of the little goats, bunnies, sheep and dogs that roam the enclosure, sit him down and show him how to safely hold, pet and feed the little ones and he might just cry

Once you make your way back, the back of the car full of cheap trinkets and plush toys he won by absolutely obliterating the targets at the shooting range, he won't stop talking about what the both of you had experienced, even though he was aware that you were there with him

Vanderwood and Saeran will most likely complain about the two of you smelling like goat though

Saeran:

Paranoid boy part 2

Even though he had come a long way from his time at Mint Eye, too many people around him still made him uncomfortable, sometimes to the point of a panic attack if he pushed himself too far

Still he had allowed you to burrow your way into his heart and he was unwilling to just let you go like that

And if maintaining that relationship meant that he had to take you outside every once in a while, he tried his best to make sure you were happy

You reassured him a lot though, that while dates were nice, making sure that he was okay was even more important

But this was something he had set his mind to and if you had learned something from the short time you had spent together, while he was not dominant in an abusive way, giving him the control for firsts like this one set his mind at ease

He had spent his entire life being belittled and controlled so being able to decide on a first date meant the world to him

He wasn't a recluse by any means, after his therapy had started to take effect over his life he often spent many hours in parks looking at the flowers, sometimes getting some ice cream, or researching all the things he had missed out on in the library so he had a few leads he could work with

At first you wouldn't really realize he's taking you out on a date, he just came to your room and asked if you wanted to get some ice cream and there you were, both of you with a cone of your favorite flavors with your fingers laced together before he had shoved your hands into the pocket of his jacket

It's the late afternoon in the park near the parlour and you made your way up the hill to the border of the park where you could overlook the entire venue, including the stage in the middle where a few people had already gathered to listen to the music that was soon to begin

It was at that moment that it dawned on you that this outing wasn't just a spontaneous whim of his, he had actually planned this!

The both of you spent the rest of the evening and night cuddled together, watching and listening to the party down the hill far away from all the commotion, just enjoying each others company

Vanderwood:

Paranoid boy part 3

Honestly, has this man ever been outside without any kind of mission and threat looming over his head?

To him going outside where his enemies might be waiting just around the corner was far too stressful to consider making a date out of it

He won't deny you the pleasure of spending some time one on one though, after all being with him also meant sharing your living space with the disaster twins

He does have his own place, but after everything you have been through together it just seemed the safest to stay close just in case a quick getaway was necessary

Just surprise him with a few recipies you have picked out for you to try, a movie or two, a good bottle of wine (or any other beverage of your choice) and a nice smelling bath bomb and he is sold

He only knows how to take care of himself to keep his motor running and look presentable, but actually winding down and pampering himself is unknown territory

While his apartment is rather small, with just basic furniture and no decorations, just being there with you makes the entire place seem so much more domestic

The cold atmosphere was the main reason why he rarely spent time here, mainly just to sleep of the pain from a hardly successful mission or when he was just that close to punching out Saeyoung again for getting on his nerves

But the smell of your cooking and the glow of the few candles you had lit in the living room/bedroom made it feel half so bad that the both of you had to set down the food on the floor and sit on pillows he had taken from the bunker some time ago so he wouldn't have to buy his own

Being the responsible adults you were, the both of you just piled the dirty dishes in the sink and immediately went to enjoy the bath you had promised him, covering you both in a layer of pink glitter from the bathbomb, but for now he was to content to care

He promised himself to make sure he would try to make just as much of an effort for the next date, if not even more so as you settled down on the mattress in the other corner of his bedroom, maybe a little more fun and domesticity was just what he needed

#asks #imagine #scenario #mystic messenger #mysme #jumin han #jaehee kang #yoosung kim #jihyun kim #v #saeyoung choi #luciel choi #707 #saeran choi #unknown #vanderwood

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ask-them-bois · 4 years

Text

Letters, pt 1.

It started with Hounding.

The giant purpleblood had just gotten up no more than an hour ago. He had showered, dressed, and gotten his facepaint on, then stepped out of his respiteblock to see Ashhur already awake, too.

The mutant was on the lounge plank, dressed in nothing but a pair of running shorts- it will forever bother Hounding how little clothing the kid chose to wear-, scrolling on the palmhusk Hounding had gotten him; he struggled with it because of his long claws, but he’d figured out how to finagle his fingers just right that he could at least tap apps and scroll on it. Two of his eyes glanced up as Hounding came into the room.

“- .... . -- .- .. .-.. .--- ..- ... - -.-. .- -- . -... -.-- ·-·-·-*” He said, his fins flickering. Hounding looked away from the abomination on his couch, feeling his bilesack clench; even though he’d agreed to take Ashhur in as an apprentice, it was still disgusting to see such a blatant mutant speak in a comfortable manor with him. He was getting used to it in increments, but still. *(The mail just came by.)

“THaNks, CUllbaiT.” Hounding grumbled, turning towards the door, “Have ya eaTeN yeT?” Ashhur made a sound that meant ‘yes’. “THeN geT Ta work.” Hounding said shortly, shoving the door open and heading outside.

As he walked towards his mailbox, he worked his jaw back and forth, his tusks scratching on his cheeks. At least the kid was hard working and loyal, he thought; he at least seemed dedicated to getting stronger, being an attentive student these past few months. He slacked on chores and even fell asleep when Hounding explained the inner workings of them Empire to him, but... he was trying, and Hounding could at least find something mildly admirable in that.

Shaking the thoughts away- his dedication had nothing to do with the fact he was still a mutant freak- he reached the end of his lawnring and opened his mailbox, which was mounted on his fence; a wrought iron fence surrounded Hounding’s hive, with a sweeping, black gate closed over the end of his scuttlebuggy parking sector. His mailbox had a opening on one side of the fence, and one on his side, which he popped open.

Grabbing the handful of communication papers, he turned and began walking back up to his hive as he shuffled them. A letter from the Church, a paycheck from one of his recent hits- which one was that from? Ah, yes, the teal freak with six eyes. Hounding needed to finish painting his skull- and a few worthless slips.

Under all of it, though, was a dark green envelope, sealed shut with golden wax. The stamp in the wax looked like the sun, with eight little bubbles between eight, wiggly rays. There was no return address. If it was about another job, there usually wasn’t. Although it was the Church that gave him his targets, he did occasionally get contacted by other purples asking for his help.

He ducked inside and made his way to the meal block, where he tossed the rest of the letters onto the island. Scooping a Faygo out of the meal vault, he paused to glance out the window; Ashhur was in the back lawnring, rigorously pulling himself up on a pull bar, his fins flared as he heaved himself upwards. Hounding had an entire gym’s worth of workout equipment in his back lawnring, and he’d been putting Ashhur to work on it nearly nightly. The mutant’s tattoos seemed to shimmer as he let himself drop from the bar, before he turned and moved towards the dirt track to run laps, grabbing a hydration bottle on his way.

Hounding turned away from the window and sat down at his table, flicking the lid off his soda. He took a swig of the cherry flavored, sugary goodness as he slit the envelope open with his claw and pulled out the papers, which he unfolded to read:

“My dearest Hounding~,

It is so lovely to 7inally contact you~. I do hope you are well~. I must say, I am quite impressed with you, sir~. I do apologize 7or contacting in such an archaic way, but I 7ear I would be 7ound out if I simply texted you~. Someone like me can’t a77ord to let that happen~. However, who I am is unimportant at the moment~. Indeed, Master Ur7ath, it is the jobs and money you care 7or, oui~? 7air enough, but I know you also enjoy one other thing: Revenge~.

Your nemesis, the one who calls himsel7 Innocent, is whom I am re7erring to~. You poor man, you struggled so long to hunt him down and cull him, and he came back to li7e~! It is too cruel, no~? I understand you have given up your pursuit of him, which is, truly, understandable~. A thousand years dead, best to let old bones lie, no~?

Ah, but even i7 Master Gorsin is no longer a target, you still consider him an abomination because o7 his bright hue~. I weep for that, Master Ur7ath~. I weep~! You have culled many I could have helped~! Ah, well~. Not all can be saved by the Unholy Atrocity~. Where was I? Oh, yes~!

I am sure you’re aware that Master Gorsin managed to produce a descendant~. A boy named Vornik Gorsin, who lives in the mountains~? Perhaps not, he does not have very many contacts~. A lonely boy, no~? Hoho, but I digress~. I7 you do not intend to kill Innocent, then perhaps you can still rid this world of what you consider 7ilth~. I do not condone this behavior, Master Ur7ath, I would rather see the boy saved, but he may be past salvation~.

7or you, his culling would be another retch exterminated from this world~. It would be quite the mortal wound in Master Gorsin’s side, too, no~? I cannot pay 7or this to happen- I cannot soil my silken gloves, and I personally wish no harm on Vornik’s hide- but it something to consider~. Perhaps it would be a 7itting test 7or your student~? Vornik and Ashhur are cousins o7 sorts; imagine the drama it would cause~! Not just between them, but their ancestors~! Oh I do revel in such theatrics~! It is all your choice, o7 course. I am just o77ering some 7ood 7or thought~.

Eternally yours, through the hell7ire o7 the Horrendous Monstrosity, The Blind Phoenix~.”

Hounding set the letter down, leaning back in his seat. He took another swig of Faygo, staring up at the chandelier above as he thought. Whoever this motherfucker was, they were trying to use him. He was smart enough to see that, even if it was written in a hideously, overly fancy style. Then again... he had always thought himself a tool, a weapon for his Empire and Church to wield at their discretion. Being used was his purpose.

Whoever the ‘Blind Phoenix’ was, they’d made some very good points. But it didn’t sit well with Hounding, how much this stranger knew about him. A growl rumbled in his chest as he looked back down at the letter.

After a long moment, he tipped his Faygo back and drained it, before he got to his feet. Picking up the letter, he tossed it into the waste trap before he stepped outside.

As he did so, Ashhur was coming up from one of his laps around the track. Noticing Hounding, he changed course and jogged up to him, his chest heaving for breath. The mutant put his hands behind his head, his gills flapping as he took deep inhales, his curly hair drenched with sweat.

“.. ... ... --- -- . - .... .. -. --. - .... . -- .- - - . .-. --··-- -- .- ... - . .-. ..- .-. ..-. .- - .... ··--··*“ He clicked. *(Is something the matter, Master Urfath?)

Hounding looked down at his charge for a long minute, before he smiled. “AiN’T NoTHiN’ wroNg, CUllbaiT. I goT a job for yoU.”

#letters #pt 1 #the hounding #ashhur jaybez #vornik gorsin #the blind phoenix #413 event #long post

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jenuminous · 5 years

Text

Howl Your Love to Me | njm

na jaemin | 8.5k | “you’re not supposed to be here.” It wasn’t what Jaemin planned from the beginning for you — a normal part-timer — to know what kind of blood was flowing under his skin.

genre angst, fluff | werewolf! jaemin x fem! reader | mentions of blood, biting, quick time warp, etc.

messages happy belated halloween!! uh... I lowkey think this doesn’t make sense or even think it’s werewolf! jaemin!

June 1st, and the year 2056.

It wasn’t long when the town had decided to build a mechanic wall layering outside. In order to go outside you either needed a working pass or something more complicated than just a form. They really meant for people to stay stuck in here and be like a sheep inside the fence, shaking from unknown fear. Glancing through the peek of nailed wooden planks, it wasn’t a surprise to see only wooden fences instead of picturesque buildings, enveloping around houses for protection, though some were made of rotten woods that smelled a little. The city used to be colored under the gloomy sky, but now it was morose with the autumn sun.

[And maybe there are possibilities of spies who opened up the town gate for the wolves……]

Passing by your father’s unbelievable utters, you silently hoped someone would turn off that damn television by now. The floor creaked as you tiptoed silently towards the front door. “Get me some liquor when you come back,” you rolled your eyes as you stuffed your feet in the worn—out Adidas shoes, keep on pushing your feet in until it slipped into the end like Cinderella’s glass slippers.

“Mom’s coming back at dinner though, doesn’t she hate the liquor smell?” I know, your dad shoots back in his hushed tone. “Your mom is gonna need some rest, isn’t she?” Your father finally lifted himself up from the couch, kissing your forehead before letting you head out to the caged city.

“Good luck with your first job,”

“Thanks, dad. See you back at night.” Your hands were empty, your right shoulder pressed down from the eco bag that had nothing more than your phone, a wallet from your last year’s birthday present, and a notebook with a pen. Simple, hoping you could drop by a cafe before arriving at your destination.

The outside scenery was duller than what it seems. You weren’t sure if this was really the technology future the ones before you wished and worked for. Not that you could relate the many changes of the past and present. Dusty roads, buildings you saw in the textbook (they say they developed the whole thing, but you doubt that), robots were still unable to help in certain aspects, humans being humans (or worse).

Was this all included in the blueprint? Maybe the rebellion of wild lives wasn’t in their calculations. Wolves were a big issue these days. Humanity was strong enough to protect themselves against wolves last time, but this time it wasn’t their turn to hold the victory trophy. Wolves have gotten smarter, and stronger than one’s imagination, connecting to theories of werewolves that came out of the dusty ancient textbooks, suspecting a ‘spy’ within this city. You weren’t that into fantasies, unlikely to be agreeing with their statement.

[...there is a high possibility of wolves to be attacking with the full moon...]

Executing to brainwash everyone, the morning news was only congested with the continuous onslaught from the menace, wild wolves of unknown species. You’ve heard there was an extra show of ‘How To Survive from the Wolves’ which was hitting the highest rating. Not to your interest, there were currently about 50 people (concluded they were mostly farmers) and half of the population chickens were gobbled up known by the news, reporting daily injuries and farm panoramas. Thanks to the news, you had to rip off the canvas sized wolf poster you’ve gotten for your 7th birthday (just for your baby cousin’s sake).

The chicken price increased about twice again (at least you’ve feasted on them for the whole entire week before the incident), and so did the wheat — the main food substance of the livestock. The smartest solution the government thought was to cut down the chickens, which would lead to less attraction of wolves to strike down from the hills. The town has gotten hushed; it could’ve been renamed as a ghost city if it weren’t the running students and some elderlies out for a walk (not that you were attached to this place before). By the blowing winds by your face, it was hard to multitask — brushing your hair to the side while reading off the map. “Excuse me!” The push made you jump, the several adolescents who seemed your age — maybe not their height — were giggling with each other after the apology, when they seemed to be late for class. Dusting off your shirt, you study their backs as they shrink within seconds.

A sudden thought of regret goes through your mind, but you shrug it off. “At least I’m earning some money,” you mutter, and perhaps the dog might’ve given you a pitiful gaze as you continued your journey. You didn’t feel left out. You were just, oh well, homeschooled.

Your body stuttered a little as the door slid opened sideways when it coded your presence in. The outer seemed to be just a renovated house from the 80s, but appearances didn’t matter when it came to healing. At least the inner interior was a lot simpler and neater than your thought. From the ceiling to the furniture, everything was dipped into the same shade of whiteness; just by a touch, you’ll get to see a culprit’s fingerprint on everywhere. Thanks to that, the colorful shades of medicines caught your eyes quickly; helping to differentiate the medicines stacked and waiting neatly in the squared shelves.

The pharmacy, well, was part of a house for a family of 3. Three, yes. At least that was what you saw from the picture frame hanged during the interview. You could see it through the rectangular shape cut out from the wall, the view filled with stairs heading upstairs, and from there on the floor was cherry brown, with green painted wallpapers. While in the opposite rectangle was the way to the kitchen — you remembered having a seat last week — where a sweet smell rising from the oven and to your nostrils. You recognized the scent right away: roses.

The sudden open of door startled you (you knew it was going to take you time to get used to the sound), and you turned around to see no other than a neat man. He had golden framed round glasses, hair neatly parted with wax, he sure had some wrinkles but that didn’t make him seem aged at all. “Oh, Mr. Na—” as you stood up straightly after the recognition, instead of a greeting back, you see him walk past you and put down several boxes stacked on top on the white counter with a clipboard beside.

“So, if I remember it correctly, you’re Y/N, right?” Though there didn’t seem that many of resumes on top of his counter when you came to apply for the job, you were surprised he remembered your name. Sure: pharmacy, good memory. He seemed to have a lot to say, but he was simplifying it down in his mind (probably) noticing from his deeply thinking position. “Well, welcome to the family, Y/N! Happy to have you working with us,” instead his output was a simple, welcome—yet—warm comment, whistling as he headed to the kitchen.

“Rose apple pies?” By the sudden kindness you were not used to, your head automatically nods and Mr. Na smiles as he takes out the culprit of the sugary aroma. Not that you had completely lost hope from humanities, but it was new to see someone opened up for once. Placing the hot, steaming piece on a rosy plate, he pushed it towards you. Thank you, you mumble, as you take the first bite after Mr. Na did. The soft ripen apple strongly traveled your mouth, followed by the fresh, herb of roses.

The conversation didn’t last for that long, you pulled up the sleeves of your beige hoodie, with a clipboard Mr. Na assigned to you. Excluding the medical terms, the simplified names were easy to be recognized, though it was hard to tell which went to which category. There were many medicines you wondered if people would ever need, but the illness was unknown to everyone, wasn’t it? The clock was ticking to 3 already when you haven’t done much work. Perhaps the taste of that rose apple pie took a good 20—minutes.

“My son usually comes late from practice,” That was what you heard from the kind pharmacist who has willed to hire you for the job before he went upstairs for some research (you guess). ‘My son’ who you never seemed to have a chance to meet — ever — during your shifts. He — ‘My Son’ — apparently dyed his hair back to brown, he added. Born with a sprinkle of athletic talent, his six senses all sharply activated (as a con, it disturbed him from going to sleep), always trying and gets the best results, all the girls willing to go on a date with him.

He sounded very robotic; a munchkin, too perfect for the world. Well, all parents would talk about their child like that, don’t they? But what practice did he have, though? Questions were never answered inside your brains, neither did you really wish to get it answered.

The fact that you were unable to meet him in real life didn’t disappoint you that much. After all, you were just a part-time worker who might quit tomorrow morning, and additionally, weren’t even interested in someone who you only heard verbally.

🌕

The summer night wind was colder and sharper than your thought, maybe it was true that the city would be visited by a thunderstorm during the late night time. You tightly hold the collar of your hoodie as you speed-walk the dead road, up to the hills you walked this morning. You never knew you would make such a dumb mistake in your life. How could you not realize a bottle of pills has fallen into your bag? It was midnight with a full moon faint; howlings were echoing, but your steps didn’t stop by them.

What could possibly go wrong? Maybe you getting bitten or perhaps tore by a pack of wolves. Nothing less or more than that. It would’ve been a better idea if you left your death letter on your desk before your journey.

You should’ve noted you weren’t some sort guide to memorize the whole path within 10 minutes. Since when did the pharmacy lead to a deep pine tree forest? Soring in pain, your legs were wobbling and pretty sure your whole body was too. The old flashlight seemed to be getting out of battery, lucky that you had extras in your hoodie pocket though. Swearing beneath your breath, you kneel down as you carefully dismembered the flashlight, the clicking sounds of hesitation ringing with the moans of wind.

The battery slips out your fingers and to the ground, as you hear a howl. Impatiently you swear once more, grabbing the soggy dirt to find the battery, quickly fitting it in and complete the circuit. You didn’t need a source of light to see what was coming next. Click. The flashlight finally turns on, this time with a much brighter light. The wolves seemed more ravenous than usual.

No weapons, or anyone near. You couldn’t have felt more helpless than right now, legs shivering and tears were automatically formed (even though you tried not to). You couldn’t just end your 18 years of life for this. The alpha wolf seemed to be taking his moves, slowly getting into its ready position to leap — probably targeting your head first.

Would ducking your head down help? You researched all the survival methods in your head, but it couldn’t think straight from the sudden fear. Automatically your arms shot up in a guard position until you hear a defeated wimp of a wolf’s, and not yours.

“What in the…... ”

The crouched feature straightened itself, your hands feeling the terror as the size of it got bigger than what it seemed like. The sudden shift of the shadow seemed to be startling the wolves too, as you hear their whimpers as they backed up. It was neither a wolf nor a human, but a werewolf. You didn’t dare to blink an eye, or else it would be gone the moment before you realize. The posture of it was majestic, tender looking brown fur, with a scar across its cheek. You guessed that was left during its jump in front of you.

The creature — or the werewolf — growled lowly in a threatening manner back to the pack of wolves, and in sudden seconds no fur of wolves was left on the ground, all gone for their lives. “This is a disaster,” you mumble, biting down your shaking lips as your eyes meet.

“...Hi,” your greeting was hesitant. What if it bit off your hand? Not that it wasn’t a possibility. It seemed like it wanted to say something to you. But instead, it backed away slowly and with a sharp turn, it hid into the bushes.

You shaped your hands into a fist — hard — until it shook hard, pinched yourself several times, and closed your eyes for a good second and opened them again. It wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t close from being one, time was ticking on your watch, the sudden bright light scorching your eyes.

“What am I doing,” you monologue, dusting off the dirt on your loose trousers, hurrying until dawn came up.

Standing in front of the pharmacy, You swear under your breath once more at the sudden immerse of an ominous feeling, as you found the door easily opening up for you.

Was it a robber? Or a wolf?

Not another one, you wished. Biting down the swollen lower lips, you slightly tasted a bitter taste of metallic blood. With shaking hands, you lifted your flashlight. Carefully, as if you were in a ghost house, your body shifted with the flashlight.

“Please don’t say this was all my fault,”

Pill containers were all over the ground; some had their lids opened up, crunched beneath someone or thing’s pressure. The flashlight seemed to have caught something in its radar: converse shoes with untied shoelaces. Directly, your eyes shot up to a shadowed, frozen statue: a boy.

Squinting his eyes from the sudden light you flashed at him, you weren’t too sure what shade his hair was dyed in, but the light illuminated on his eyes sure portrayed a wolf’s. His chest constantly rose up and down with heavy panting, he shot both his hands up in the air.

“I, I can explain.” His voice was deep, yet rushed by the danger alarm. Was it his voice? The sudden suspicious soothes away as he comes closer, his hands raised towards you as a signal to calm you down, “Trust me, I’m not what you’re thinking right now,”

The assuring gaze from the sweet, honey-dipped eyes. Your heart started beating fast, the thumping sounds ringing loudly enough to make you dizzy. With no doubt, you knew who he was: the pharmacist’s son.

“I—” your voice — as soon as you use it — rapidly chained inside your throat, heart sinking down in a second, swirling with the sudden heart thumps. The boy had a smile bloomed on his face, “your hand, is it okay?” To your notice, there was a small cut on the back of your hand, blood dried up already. Perhaps it happened while bumping into a thorn bush somewhere in the woods.

“Here, let me see.” The pharmacist's son took your hand gratefully, but no one knew the consequence held in your hand: the orange container you came to return.

You thought it was human nature that people were able to change their facial expressions quickly, whatever mood they were in beforehand. In this case was a dramatic change: a smile to a cold, deadly stare.

“Why do you have this?” Roughly he snatched it from you, as he flips it around until the medicine tag showed up. It seemed like your wound was no longer an interest in his eyes; the sudden change of his atmosphere confused you, snapping you back to reality. Locking your eyes once more, you noticed fear in his eyes. You could hear his hands were shaking than yours, how the pills inside were shaking tremendously, fragile than ever. After skimming down the list of chemistry terms, he lets out a heavy breath — he must’ve kept it in for a while — shoving them hurriedly in his sling bag. Now that, was clearly what a robber would do. Not a pharmacist's son. It made you quite hesitant whether you should call the cops or not, but technically you were not different from him at this point.

In the silence your eyes did its job, as usual, scanning the one up and down, left to right seeing what flaw he might have. Your head tilted sideways, eyes narrowing as his headshot to his left, making sure his parents were asleep.

“Hey, you’ve got a scar—”

He had a great sense of argute, you had to admit. His head sharply turned back to you, backing up even when your reach wasn’t even close to touching him. The boy then seemed to realize it, quickly touching over his dried up scar that was skidded horizontally on his cheek, with some brown fur surrounded by it.

Brown fur.

“That looks kinda bad. Here, I have some alcohol, you can use it—” As your steps enclosed the gap, the boy’s eyes widened even more, scurrying upstairs; perhaps he tripped on one of the steps as if he had seen a wolf behind you.

Luckily, there were none until you tuck yourself under your bed.

🌕

Several days have passed from that night. You could’ve believed everything was a dream, but so far it wasn’t. Flipping over the electronic magazines you hummed the tune from your earphones. They were the only fun that would get you away from the boredom that easily came to the pharmacy on the hill, where customers seemed to have stopped their visits. The other choice was you to clear and reorganize the shelves of categorized medicines, always filling and crossing out numbers beside the medicine names. You sometimes challenged yourself to read out the medical name caged in the brackets, where it looked like a foreign language when you spoke it.

Chemistry, they say. Well, you would like to skip that for now.

Your index finger slid across the white shelves, flicking off the dust layered on top of your finger with your thumb as you moved along. Your body stops in a certain position stiffly, as you stop at the very left of the collection, reading off the name tag in your mind. Feeling the grip of the container, you skim through the sticker with concentrated eyes. Orange tinted container with ivory capsules held inside, there was a caption [anti] written as the very first word.

It was the one you took that night. By accident. The one that boy was so desperate about.

What exactly was this used for? As if there was a quote “eat me” written on it, magically your hands were already grabbing it, ready to open up the lid and see what will happen next. It was a jeopardy, for sure.

Just then, the door slid open with waves of laughter, automatically letting your body spring up before your eyes, hands not clear where to be kept. The best solution you came was to hide them behind your back (maybe too obviously). Hands rolled into a fist, they were shaking hard as if they were about to crush the container in your hands.

“Hello, what can I help you with?” your eyes stopped at a certain target. It wasn’t your fault, he was just too obvious and the only one you knew among the crowd. His eyes were widened too, almost ready to pop out.

The boy from the night.

“Jaemin, who’s this?”

With a soft hit from a black—haired boy, the other boy with the name ‘Jaemin’ lowered his eyes, slowly blinking his blank eyes of confusion. The sudden release of fast fluttering butterflies bothered you as your eyes met within a shot, realizing swallowing your own saliva was a tougher job than you thought.

“Oh,” he took a second to retrieve himself. “She’s the new apprentice of my dad’s.”

With the access of bright sunlight, you had a better view of his physical features than the night. His hair dyed hazel brown with split ends, eyes twinkling by the golden brown galaxy of its own, his spectacular long lashes curled up perfectly upright, and his cherry red lips didn’t seem to be smiling when the ends were curled up slightly. His eyes had depth in them, how his eyes stared deeply and calmly at the one who was talking, the shift of his eyes unpredictable. There were heavy sweat beads dripping down his slim, sharp jawline, his cheekbones lifted up soon with a smile.

“But it’s also my first time meeting her.”

You almost dropped the container from your hands, sweating by the awe of his presence. Your heart seemed to be unable to function, how it was jammed by the sudden attack by his eye contact. It was the first time you ever encountered the pharmacist’s son, in fact. And yes, he was perfectly drawn out; just like how he was always described by people. How he would flash his smile like he was getting an award, being the most athletic person in the whole entire universe. You can see it just by the basketball swirling quickly at the tip of his fingertips. It felt like the world was revolving on it.

You couldn’t believe yourself blushing just by an eye-contact.

“I’m Na Jaemin.”

“Y/N.” your voice slipped faster than your hand to shake Jaemin’s hands, only embarrassing yourself more. Wiping your hand slightly by the hem of your shirt, you feel Jaemin’s hand embracing yours gently as he shook them down then up. “Wow, I’ve never seen Jaemin this awkward with girls,” a cheeky laugh was followed after a brown—haired boy’s statement, and you watched Jaemin roll his eyes as he shook the hand he let go. There seemed to be not much more to be spoken in-between the two of you.

“Guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, see you.”

After a smile, he followed the rest of his friends upstairs without looking behind for you. Maybe you were wrong; how could that ethereal-looking boy be the boy from the night? The vibe, the voice, the ‘everything’ he was giving off was so different. Before returning back to your place, you slightly glimpse at the container still gripped tightly in your hand: [anti—wolf].

Maybe it was all a dream or your exaggerated imagination. How could there be werewolves in this world?

🌕

You made sure that no corners were sticking out from the pile of papers. It was almost dinner time, which meant it was time for you to go back home, and at the same time smell the delicious smell of roasted beef. Mrs. Na has offered you several times to join the dinner table with them, but politely you declined it every time and you were surely regretting your past choices.

Grabbing your grumbling stomach, you slid your arms into the denim jacket, which weren’t warm at all. “y/n!” Your head was lost to find the trail of voice you heard from upstairs. To your surprise, it was Jaemin, hurrying as he tucked himself into the white hoodie. “Oh,” you added in silently, and perhaps Jaemin was too busy with his task to point it out. His hair still seemed wet from a shower, quickly shaking his head only adding droplets of water on the well-cleaned floor. You could only stand awkwardly and watch every move he made; it was surely hard for you to react around him, especially when you met him today for the first time. Your body swiveled around the direction Jaemin was walking towards, footsteps stopped but his didn’t. With your hesitance, Jaemin sighs, and pulls you closer to him, reaching his arm to your shoulder.

“Hey, what are you—!”

“Just let me.” Grabbing your bag for you, softly Jaemin whispers directly beside your ears. He surely didn’t want something to leak out. Dumbfounded by his action, you couldn’t do anything but nod slowly at his words with confused eyes, and cheeks blushing with a tint of cherry red. He had an aura in his voice you couldn’t tell, but something more powerful than your imagines.

“Mom! I’ll be right back after taking Y/N back home!” He seemed to be in a hurried mode, and a clip of deja vu flashed across your mind. He pulled you quickly out of the door, and out to the cold, starry night.

The night air was chilly, how street lights only helped with guidance and not providing warmth. Warm breath against your hands, you could only catch snippets of Jaemin beside you. He was walking at a slow pace to match yours, and surely he wasn’t in the mood to be talking about something.

“Right, here.” It took a second to realize what Jaemin was talking about until your eyes fell on the bag displayed on his hand. You realize how much it looked better with Jaemin, the simple combination of beige and black letterings suited him well.

“Oh, thanks.” Even shouldering your bag seemed to be awkward beside him, the unused to silence kept even after getting your bag gifted back.

“What school do you go to?” Jaemin asked finally. He coughed several times, even when his voice was smooth as ever. He seemed to be expecting a specific answer, but your reply was rather disappointing: “I’m homeschooled.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Sorry,”

“No need to be,” Jaemin cracked a smile slightly but even the slightest movement on his lips had your heart shaking like an earthquake. Would you be able to meet a boy like Jaemin if you went to school too? Perhaps you could’ve been best friends; if you had a chance. Oh, your footsteps stopped with disappointment, already realizing the familiar door of yours. Voice locked tightly in your throat, pointing a finger was only you could do, and Jaemin’s footstep stopped with a short realization too.

“Thanks for walking me back home.” You hurriedly wanted to get into your room and throw yourself into your fluffy bed with a thick, soft blanket waiting for you, as you would groan in embarrassment. His silence made you timid, grasping the hem your shirt in trying to act normal.

“Y/N,”

“Yes?” A sudden instinct told you should tuck your hair as you turned around by his call. Maybe you’d have to examine yourself from Mr. Na tomorrow. There would be no reason why your heart would be beating this fast when you’ve only heard your name for 18 years pronounced by a boy you’ve met today. You blinked your eyes twice, hoping that was way more attractive than you thought.

“Nothing much.” Jaemin hesitated, his eyes instantly dropping down to the cold, hard ground. He seemed to be having some troubles with his words, “Can you keep everything as a secret?” Jaemin blurted out quickly, his voice was ringing the streets even though his voice was quiet. His words were confusing, taking time for you to translate.

“Keep what?”

“That night where we met.”

That night where you met him.

“Oh.” Silence followed after you, and you could see Jaemin biting his lips, eyes with regret. A sudden sink of your heart made your body cold.

“Jaemin, that—” seeing a finger pulled to his lips, you gulp.

“Good night,” he smiled weakly, as he got himself ready to run back. “Does anybody know?” You had to shout it out to him, stopping Jaemin with a bitter smile. He didn’t have to explain it more.

🌕

October 1st.

Time has flown by faster than your thought. It has been four months since your acceptance to the pharmacy, and still, there were things that you couldn’t seem to be able to handle: Jaemin, yes, Na Jaemin.

The peculiar boy, who always lifted your lips into a smile, and sometimes the boy who he’d lean onto whenever he needed support.

It wasn’t long until you found your lips pronouncing his name over and over again, how his name sounded so peculiar even after numerous times, his soft giggles ringing in your ears every time. You’ve gotten closer with him easier — way easier — than you thought, even though you could never read his intention behind his deep brown eyes.

Na Jaemin, the boy who you now draw and describe every time on your diary, always picking up the brown colored pencil crayon (which is almost gone) to color his hair and eyes. Na Jaemin, who’d always be the first you’d wish to call during the late nights when clearly he was awake too. Your lips curled up as your memories recalled a clip of the tip of Jaemin’s ears blushing when you visited his school with his forgotten gym strip, how he awkwardly stood still in front of you. Maybe his cheeks were blushing too, but you didn’t know if it was because you encountered him right after a basketball game.

It seems like it was yesterday when Jaemin kept on coming up to you and pleading you to keep the secret, half-threatening, you could say. You’ve come close enough with him, where at one point Jaemin would just show up in front with both his ears and tail out, sipping his morning coffee on a Saturday afternoon, his eyes still closed with his uncontrollable amount of exhaustion. His sudden reveal as a werewolf only startled you, always finding your heart thumping at his confidence. You’d then mumble to yourself: right, he was a werewolf.

Jaemin — unlike any others — being a werewolf came to you as a fear, but also something special. It was a secret only the two of you shared (well, according to Jaemin, he is famous in school) and also something you could hold onto whenever asking Jaemin to do certain tasks, such as baking you another pie. You knew why Jaemin was so athletic, so sensitive that he needed to have his head patted when he willed to take a nap.

“Jaemin, this isn’t funny.” Jaemin hummed as he opened his eyes slowly, “sure, it is. Come on, my ears are waiting for its scratch.” It was your responsibility from there on to tell him to take the pills (he’d refuse to drink it with water, he’d slip it with his coffee which you quite disgusted), though something didn’t feel right.

The pill. Yes, the ones you accidentally brought back home. The pill — that started this whole messy, unknown friendship between you and Jaemin, or maybe the werewolf. You didn’t know the exact detail of how the pill worked, or ever did you wanted to know. You just knew it helped Jaemin — or the werewolf — to maintain his human form, lessen the pain of his another ego’s rebellion, especially during the full moon. That was it. That was the briefly told explanation from Jaemin, and you didn’t ask furthermore.

“Lee Donghyuck that was totally cheating!”

“The real world’s full of cheating, what do you mean?”

Your head snaps as your eyes blurred out the memories, coughing dryly in embarrassment. You encountered him every day, at the exact same time, 3:30 PM and the door would open with waves of laughter and you’d see 7 boys drenched in sweats, someone always shouting “I win” (you didn’t really know what the deal was). “Hi, y/n!” Chenle, giggled as he elbowed Jaemin (who then raised his eyebrows to him), waving out the biggest hi with his arms.

“Hi, Chenle.” Waving back, Jaemin caught your eyes but quickly retrieved as he awkwardly called out Chenle’s name, making him whine. You’ve gotten closer to the other 6 boys too — Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck, Chenle, and Jisung — boy, there were a lot. They high fived you as they headed straight to the kitchen, your hands awkwardly folding back to your side when it was Jaemin’s turn. There wasn’t much conversation rather than ‘hi’ or ‘hello’s, maybe there were some ‘good afternoon’s.

“How was school?” You tried to twist things up, but it was a pretty dumb question to start off with: even you admitted. But not to your surprise, Jaemin still replied kindly. “No more basketball practices. The season’s over, a good thing I guess.” Jaemin always smiled so naively that you almost forgot who he really was the full moon you saw him.

“y/n, aren’t you eating lemon pies with us?”

At Jeno’s call, you quickly let go of the cloth you were using to wipe the counters, making sure your hands were clean with the hand sanitizer as you headed to the kitchen. The energy created from the 7 boys were amazing — it was like handling 7 elementary school kids, but maybe more immature. By the time you cheerfully arrived, you notice (and hated) that the only available seat was beside Jaemin’s, which was the center of the table; it made you feel like a birthday girl. Jaemin coughed dryly as he shifted his place, pulling the chair out slightly for you.

“Hey,” despite both of you shared your afternoon greetings, your lips had to spit it out once more, only causing more giggles from his friends. “You like greeting people, don’t you?” Jaemin’s question fanned the fire in your heart, and you wanted to hide behind the counters if you could, but there was already a piece of lemon pie placed neatly in front of you.

And there was Jaemin.

“Is Jaemin giving up his last pie for y/n?”

“I swear, Lee Donghyuck.”

You weren’t so used to having 7 boys talking loudly on top of each other, but at least they made you laugh. “I’ll do the dishes,” as you get up with the gathered plates, Jaemin quickly stops you, realizing then his hands were overlapping yours. The kitchen fell silent until Donghyuck led the astonishments.

“No, I’ll do. You’ve got work to do, and Donghyuck would help me.” Seeing Donghyuck’s confused expression, surely this wasn’t something discussed beforehand. There were small chuckles followed, shut as soon as Donghyuck snapped his head around.

“Good luck, Donghyuck. We’d be upstairs!” Jeno exclaims as he waves a goodbye hand, the rush of the others spun your head around a little. You smiled a little, helping Jaemin until he had to put a hand out to signal you.

🌕

The sudden gale of wind was enough to scare the entire village away. It was sure a windy afternoon, though the sun was down earlier before the moon started rising. You couldn’t believe you were walking down the same path of darkness, and how the storage felt further than usual distance. The box wasn’t heavy or too big to distract your sight of the path, though you had to adjust it a couple of times due to its smooth surface slipping down your hands.

Snap. It was then when your ears twitched sensitively in a beat late of the snapping, followed by a held breath somewhere. Your breath hitched, the filthy feeling of creeps crawling onto your skin. No weapons, no nothing. Nice, you think.

“Who’s there?” You call out but the only reply was your echo against the cold wind. Before your head snapped back to the path — not to your notice — a sudden force tugged your arm. A sound of startle was caught beside your ears, both you and the person tangling together by your resistance, tumbling down the hard ground. Or was it soft?

“Are-are you okay?” Opening your eyes, you realize how you were suffocating the one under you, quickly picking yourself up as you flushed with embarrassment. The person coughed out as if he was choking on hair, and you recognize the face under the sudden moment of dim moonlight amongst the clouds: Na Jaemin. He hadn’t got a scar on his face, but surely he seemed to be in pain by the fall.

“I was only trying to help.” Jaemin ran his fingers through his hair, wincing from the sudden pain that stabbed his back, rubbing it carefully as you helped him sit up. It was weird seeing Jaemin like this. He would’ve caught you in his arms and avoid the fall if it were the usual, perfect Jaemin. He had a plain white t-shirt with a black leather jacket, with ripped denim jeans which were stunning, even his hair that was messy from the blowing winds. You never knew these style of fashions were your taste until today.

“I-I’m sorry, truly.” Jaemin shrugged at your apologies with a chuckle that only made your heart skip another beat.

“Delivery?” He asks, picking up the box that was ditched on the floor due to distraction. He flipped it over as if he was treating it like a basketball, turning his head around instead of the box to read off the sticker, which contained the information of the resources within.

“Kind of. But it’s to the storage.” He hummed with a nod, followed by his eyebrows twitching, his eyes willing to open the box by ripping. Nervously you stared at his cold tension, silencing your questions. You knew it by now too well, that the medicines inside were the ones he was searching for — the ones he got mad at for you having them — but he didn’t comment about it.

“You always seemed to hold my pills, I guess it’s a good coincidence.”

“Excuse me?” You asked him with a playful chuckle, but Jaemin’s grip tightened at the edges of the boxes slightly, and you knew it was something sensitive. “Good that it’s you though,” his words were bitter yet sweet in some corner around, your eyes filling up with sympathy, which he didn’t seem to be willing to meet.

“Am I that trustable now?”

“Don’t get your hopes that high,” Jaemin chuckles. You loved his soft smile, it eases everything. You wondered if he thought the same way whenever he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

The color of the night sky was darker than usual, and it only grew uncertainty of safety. “My dad used to take me here, we also had picnics if the weather was nice.” Jaemin, as always, was the one who opened up the conversation, “we could, well, maybe watch some stars on the way back.” It was weird that even though the dim moonlight that dulled all the colors, you could see the tip of Jaemin’s ears tinted in redness, which only raised your eyebrows in surprise.

“If you don’t want to—”

“Hey, I’d love to.” You cut him off this time with a small crack of an awkward smile. “The sky’s clear today down the hills, it must be helping us.” continuing with a giggle, you bump into Jaemin’s back, who suddenly froze, body twitching sensitively. “Jaemin?” Echoing your whispers were howls of wolves, halting your actions just like how Jaemin’s did.

Oh, this is bad. Really bad.

“Jaemin are you scared of wolves too?” You let out a slight laugh, but both of you knew it was only to wash off the sudden creep crawling up the spine. Jaemin was never afraid, you could tell, it was a bad joke at a bad timing, you bit your lips.

“No,” Jaemin whispered lowly, “of course not. Not that I’m scared— it’s just another reason.”

“Jaemin, are you telling me that you didn’t take—”

They glowed. The hungry, shining eyes of hundreds glowed so luminously and dangerous that you knew you weren’t going to spare your life this time. Tangling your footsteps with his, Jaemin catches you swiftly, but his hands beside your arms were slightly shaking. With the sudden draw of the clouds, the dim moonlight was a lot brighter, and you winced by the sharp poke on your arms. Claws. There was no longer the soft hands of Jaemin’s, but furry browned paws with sharply sheared claws piercing out.

“Jaemin, keep it in.”

“If I do, we’re gonna die.”

Jaemin tried to keep his meek smile, leaving you aside for a while. It wasn’t hard to notice that your heartbeat had been ignoring the tempo lately. At Jaemin’s bold action, the wolves halted immediately. Have they figured out who he was? In a blink, Jaemin was no longer there. The earth shook by some matter with an unusual howl. It was the second time, yes, exactly and only the second time. Yet, you felt this familiar feeling from the tall, lunatic figure in front of you. Neither you or the wolves seemed to have expected another visit of him, as the wolves backed up with a menace growls on their faces. How Jaemin had his back hunched to diminish his size, but he still looked menacing enough. A part of you wasn’t even sure if you could call him Jaemin anymore. He gave off a different aura, something more… dangerous, and less human. His growl with a sharp swing was good enough to chase them away. Searching around for semi-useful weapons, you notice a wolf staring deadly at you and only you: the alpha wolf. You recognized the long scar stretched across its snout, the angle of the line just off of its piercing, icy blue eyes.

The smirking growl was the announcement of the beginning of its hunting. Scurrying its steps, Jaemin plunged himself fiercely towards the alpha wolf once more, how the wolf could not even have its chance to run away, rolling onto the ground with Jaemin. It looked like Jaemin was about to rip it into halves, but instead, a deep bite in its leg seemed to be enough warning. The alpha wolf winced in pain, but the other wolves were smart enough to know it was wiser not to attack. Jaemin stood up with dripping blood on his sharp teeth, his cold glare to the clan was enough. The wolves dared not to attack, petrified by the arising of a new enemy they never have witnessed before. The alpha tried getting up, helplessly trying to balance with his three legs, running at a slow, yet fearful pace, following the others.

Your legs were still left shivering from the sudden blood and mess that quickly flashed by just now. The werewolf dropped onto its knee — hard — and you felt the ground shaking a little. His breath was never steady, how you could see the light skin tone of Jaemin’s showing up from the disappear of furs, his figure stopping at where his ears and tail was still able to be seen. His hands were digging into the dry ground for extra support, beads of sweat falling down his cheeks to meet at his chin, dropping on the cold ground.

It was just like the first time you’ve encountered him; shaky hands, sweats meeting one another to drop, irregular patterns of inhales and exhales. He gathered himself with a gulp of his saliva, harsh breathing heard from a distance. A false in his step was one thing that would make him drop dead on the floor. Jaemin — this time — had his ears and tails out, all drooped down.

“Jaemin—” your voice trails off as you get closer to him, speechless from the sudden scene. But one thing you knew was that Jaemin was there. He was back. “Please go,” Jaemin always kept his order simple and short. That was the way he was, and the way you couldn’t navigate out from. “Jaemin, I’m not going to find you cold dead tomorrow morning.” you were stubborn enough to show your will to help him. But instead, you were pushed away by him with the short droplets of energy left in his body.

“Go.” his voice was stronger this time, yet he was still weak. Jaemin wasn’t looking at you, he had his head turned around from you completely. “I just need some time.” His frustration needn’t have to be explained more, “don’t tell this to anyone.” Your fingers blossomed out from your fists, a sudden overwhelming emotion swirling around you. You thought you got closer to him, but maybe he just friended you for his secret.

“Fine.”

The night sky was enclosed with clouds, moonlight no longer seen now. Maybe Mr. Na would be surprised when he opens up the storage, traces of wolf claws that has ripped opened the box. It wasn’t entirely your fault though.

🌕

It was strange. Too strange.

Jaemin didn’t come through the front door of the pharmacy the next day. Or the following afternoon. You couldn’t help feel your heart sinking deeper and deeper, past your stomach, past your feet, and down deep into the earth, where it was so deep under that it felt like you were burning.

[A wild werewolf has been witnessed during the past days, only threatening the humanities more and more. and scientists are still unsure of the cause…...]

Lies, you silently tossed the cushion onto the TV screen, sighing as you turned it off. You’ve been refusing to eat, locking yourself inside your room ever since that day, thanks to Mr. Na suggesting not to come to visit until several days has passed by.

“I’m coming back late.”

But of course, would you ever listen to someone?

The pharmacy was surely closed, as Mrs. Na, who noticed you from the kitchen, had to open the doors for you. “Jaemin’s gotten a bad fever,” finally his mother opened her mouth in concern, as she poured the steaming hot tea into your tumbler. The sweet, romantic aroma of rose hit your nostrils first, then the soothing green teas followed.

“Oh,” first was the hit of betrayal, and second was the hit of worries. You knew it wasn’t just a bad fever.

“Would it be fine to see him?” At Mrs. Na’s nod, you salute a thank you. It was weird how the wallpapers were green now, how you wished the staircases creaked less as it only helped but to ruin your surprise. You knew which door led to Jaemin’s right away, the small crack of the door helping you easier for the door to open.

There he was lying in bed. Jaemin was beautiful, his eyes closed softly, his long eyelashes gently laid on top. He was a sleeping beauty, and if it wasn’t his body rising for breathing, everyone would believe he was an art piece. “You’re not supposed to be here.” His voice was hoarse, deepen from the nap he has gotten since you arrived, still waking up to realize your presence.

“Got a good nap?” Jaemin squinted his eyes a little as you drew the curtains, sunshine directly shooting on his eyes. It took a while for Jaemin to realize what was happening in the room, sighing as he calmed himself down. His sigh was more of a hum, but you couldn’t really tell.

“I guess,” Jaemin straightened himself up, how the blankets slid helplessly on his body, revealing his bare chest which was full of scratches and bruises. You might’ve found yourself blushing by the sudden reveal, Jaemin silently mouthing an ‘o’ as he quickly tried to pull the blankets back up, but giving up soon enough as he noticed you weren’t that surprised.

“Why are you here?” He still seemed to be resuming with his nap dream, his upper body still as he bent his back a little, eyes slowly closing back.

“That can be answered later. First, of all I’m treating you with some medicine.” you lower your voice so the conversation couldn’t leak, as you opened up the lid of alcohol, getting ready some gauzes to dip in. Jaemin squinted his eyebrows a little, making a face, but he didn’t really stop you. Instead, he leaned back, groaning as if he was suffering a back pain.

“You’re such a mess,”

“Always, a mess.” Jaemin corrected you as he chuckled. His smile relieved you somehow, and you replied to him with annoyed eyes. Jaemin threw his head back, staring at the ceiling silently, leaving you in awe of his jawlines. Your thoughts of Jaemin during the weekends flashed by, how you wanted to tell him how much you missed him, worried him, prayed for him, and now, here you were, cleansing his injuries. Jaemin hissed at the cleansing, even though some injuries seemed quite old.

“Do you ever treat yourself after a rough day?” You ask, and Jaemin shakes his head.

“I only take pills. The rest I try to clean on the spot, not when I get back home.” Jaemin’s chin points to the door. “My mom doesn’t know about this.” Your eyebrows lifted in surprise. No wonder her mother looked truly worried when addressing Jaemin with having a bad fever.

“Well, Mr. Werewolf, I think we’re done.” You stuffed the used gauzes in your bag, hoping the alcohol smell wouldn’t leak.

“Don’t— don’t call me that,” You were sure that Jaemin was blushing this time, your eyes watching him sliding the blankets back up. The comfort embraced you just by seeing his eyes, how your eyes moved up and down, observing how his chest rose lightly. The only sound heard was the silent breeze coming through the window, and his small breathings, which sounded like a lullaby to you.

“Your eyes are swollen,” his touch wasn’t startling at all. His warm touch only made you grin. “Did you miss me?” Jaemin asked out of the blues, and your eyes widened slowly. He was hesitance with the movement of his hand, and you witnessed that. The intense atmosphere made your hand still until it came in contact with Jaemin’s. Wordless from then on, Jaemin let out a sigh as he stroke the surface of the back of your hand with his thumb.

“Do you know how much this house smells like you,”

“No, I don’t. But it should, I’ve been here for months.” You chuckle, feeling Jaemin’s grip on your hand only tightening with a smile. His hands were soft, his touch gentle and cautious, as if he was treating you like glass. “I’ve never felt so relieved to smell you as soon as you entered the house,” he smiled, “hey, don’t get me wrong. I’m not creepy, I’m being my werewolf self.”

“Yeah, sure, Jaemin.” your sigh ended up with a smile, as Jaemin pulled you into his arms, smiling wider as his forehead gently touched yours. He snuggled to you closer, head buried into the crook of your neck with a smile of a child, finally wrapping you around with his arms. Your fingers gently combed his dazzling brown hair, and for once, it was peaceful.

“I missed you too, I really did.”

Birds were humming against the slightly opened window, and for the first time, the town seemed to be back in its spring color palette. Livelier shades of green gradationed the leaves, hearing them rustle as the wind brushed against lightly.

#nct #nct dream #nct jaemin #nct scenarios #nct fluff #nct angst #jaemin scenarios #jaemin fluff #jaemin angst #werewolf! jaemin #nct dream scenarios #nct dream fluff #nct dream angst

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pyropsychiccollector · 5 years

Text

Goodbye Despair, Chapter 1: Destination Despair (Part 2)

Yamada panicked when the knocking came, as it always did. There were quite a few things he hated, but his morning routine getting an overhaul was definitely near the top of the list… Bad enough Ultimate Despair got captured and Miss Ludenberg had no use for him – now he was getting regular meals again! Regular meals! Oh, the humanity! And he just… couldn’t… escape their clutches! These cruel tormentors were fast learners, were agile, and were quite fearsome!

“Hello in there~!” A singsong voice came from behind the door as the knocking ensued.

… Quite fearsome, indeed.

“Um… I’ll be done in, like, ten more… no… five or six more pages, okay?!” Yamada was sweating bullets as he glanced at the door, certain that wasn’t going to fly with her…

“No excuses! Get out here, pronto!” The voice sounded more demanding now.

Yamada lamented the curfew. He truly did. Were it not for that, he would be able to hide out on another island until breakfast was over! What’s more, the others were dragging their feet to breakfast, too, which mean their captors would be keeping a watchful eye so that no one, like him, tried to flee to safety.

Truly regrettable.

“Time to make my daring escape…!” Yamada, face on his cheeks in horror, edged over to the window across from the door and stuck one leg outside before nearly stumbling back in fright. “W-Weren’t you standing at the door just now?! H-H-How?!”

Chisa Yukizome beamed smugly at the otaku.

“Funny how that works? I had a student just like you who tried to do the exact same thing!” Chisa giggled, flashing her teacher’s ID. “Moral of the story? Don’t try to ditch your teacher!”

To Yamada’s credit, he still made a respectable effort to bolt for it. Too bad for the otaku, Chisa was faster, and apparently stronger, as she dragged the otaku along by the ankles, kicking up a cloud of dust in their wake.

“I don’t wanna give up the despair of starving myself! If you keep feeding me, I’ll remember the perfection that is Diet Coooke!” Yamada eccentrically wailed.

The Imposter, dressed up as Mitarai for now and a file under his arm, shook his head pitifully as he watched Yukizome-sensei march by on her way to the hotel.

“Poor guy… We all have to learn at some point, I guess.” The Imposter then resumed his own walking.

Nearby, Hajime sweatdropped at hearing the comment. He was having serious déjà vu right now, and the Imposter being dressed as Mitarai wasn’t helping. Shaking his head and smiling wryly, Hajime approached one of the cottages and took a deep breath.

This member of Ultimate Despair despised him. There wasn’t much rhyme or reason to it. She just… hated him. For nothing more than a passing resemblance to someone significant in her past, she hated him. It was petty, and made Hajime wonder if that wasn’t the brainwashing affecting her personality. Still, for both their sakes, he avoided her unless absolutely necessary.

… And unfortunately, Munakata made it required for all Ultimate Despairs to come to every breakfast, and Hajime was the one tasked to ensure she came, at least for that morning…

Hesitantly, Hajime knocked on the door. He nervously adjusted his tie in the few moments he waited. Talking with this girl… never went well. And that would’ve been an interesting experience, considering her Ultimate talent, but then again she was a Remnant of Despair… So, things might’ve been different, had she not been brainwashed.

The brunet was pulled from his thoughts as the knob turned and the door creaked open slightly.

“Hello…?” The silky, sweet voice found its way through the crack, tinged with a touch of caution. Hajime’s hand curled into a fist anxiously at his side, and he mustered a genuine smile as best as he could.

“A-Ah… Good morning, Maizono-san. I’m here to escort you to breakfast…” His voice wavered nervously, inwardly steeling himself.

As expected, Sayaka opened the door after a few moments – a bubbly smile plastered on her face. It would have looked much cuter and not as creepy, had it not been for the glowing red eyes that marked her as an Ultimate Despair.

A mask. One that he was meant to perceive.

“Ah, Hinata-kun!” The pop idol greeted with a disarming smile. Hajime knew better than to lower his guard. “With the blue sky and clean air, I thought I’d awoken from a terrible dream!”

Hajime said nothing. Didn’t move a muscle. He waited, hackles rising. He’d been fooled the first time by this sugary sweet act… And he’d been outright humiliated and taken a severe hit to his self-esteem, as a result. His friends bolstered his spirits… but it never removed the shame of that first encounter with the former number one Pop Sensation.

“Then I remembered I’m on an island with a worthless, cheap knockoff…” Sayaka sighed airily, shaking her head wistfully when Hinata didn’t rise to the bait. “You can’t cure me, Hinata-kun. No one can. You’re better off just letting me go, if you’re not going to kill me.”

“We’re not gonna kill you!” Hajime protested, floundering a bit. “And we’re not gonna just let you go while you drive people to suicide with your music!”

Maizono shrugged uncaringly, closed the door behind her, and walked past Hajime without so much as another word. Hajime floundered for more words as he reached out toward her repeating back, but no intelligible words passed his lips, and she didn’t stop even as she turned the corner toward the pool and the restaurant. Hajime sighed tiredly and dropped his arm in defeat.

“One of these days I’m gonna make her not hate me…” He deadpanned. He nearly jumped when a voice spoke up from behind him.

“That may be impossible. She sees her beloved in you, and you are living while he is not.”

Hinata’s head whipped back and forth as he saw no one behind him. But then he craned his head upward to see Kamakura lounging on the roof of his cottage, looking as bored as ever. The brunet frowned agitatedly.

“You don’t know that! We beat Junko, and she was the one that brought the world to its knees! It should be possible to…” He trailed off as Kamakura cut him off blithely.

“Sayaka Maizono will not benefit from therapy and recovery. Every member of Ultimate Despair has found and latched onto something that brings them pain and misery. For some, that is starvation and fasting; for others, they poured money and assets, everything they had, into Ultimate Despair, an organization that they hoped would fail; and still others, they turned the people closest to them against them for the despair of betrayal. Every member of Ultimate Despair has something like this in their life.”

“And in Maizono’s case?” Hajime questioned, tense. He stiffened more as Kamakura’s emotionless eyes never wavered from his own.

“Sayaka Maizono has been unable to escape the greatest despair in her life. She has tried to take her mind off it in numerous ways… She murdered her father. Incited a mob of fans to massacre her bandmates, save for her closest friend. You were present when she threw that friend into a death game with the rest of Class 78’s loved ones; Ayaka Haneyama was the first to be executed in that game. Maizono even waged an all-out war on the idol industry and annihilated it down to the roots… But none of that pain, none of that despair, compared to losing the one bright spot in her life, Makoto Naegi. For Sayaka Maizono… her greatest despair is to simply keep on living. It is not even a matter of ‘moving on’… Sayaka Maizono has no will to live, yet despair compels her to keep going. Because for her, life is despair. If her brainwashing were to be undone, her subsequent suicide would be a foregone conclusion.”

Hajime narrowed his eyes as he clenched his fists in determination.

“I won’t let it come to that…! Even if I can’t be the one to help her… I’ll find someone that can give her a reason to keep on living!”

Kamakura didn’t say anything for a long time after that heartfelt declaration. His eyes just bored into Hajime’s. But even with that slight discomfort, Hajime would not back down. He knew he was right about this. Even after all the things Maizono had done, she deserved a shot at redemption, just like her classmates.

“Pointless.” Kamakura droned dully, finally making Hajime turn on his heel and leave. The brunet felt Kamakura’s intense eyes on the back of his head, but he didn’t care.

He wasn’t going to give up on any of them.

~*~

“Yo, Hajime! Come sit over here!”

The brunet arched his eyebrow, tray in hand, as he saw Kazuichi pat a spot next to him at the table near the back of the dining hall. It wasn’t unusual for Souda, or any member of Class 77 really, to be friendly toward Hajime at this point. Still, something seemed to be amiss, the longer he looked into Souda’s eyes. Shrugging, he obliged the mechanic.

“So what’s up?” The counselor asked, soon after sitting down and picking at his food idly. His eyes were on Kazuichi, though.

The Ultimate Mechanic could only grin and chuckle nervously as he ran a hand through his hair cautiously.

“Why would somethin’ be up? Can’t Soul Friends just stick together? Heh… Hehe…” He trailed off suspiciously. Hajime shrugged nonchalantly, sticking a forkful of food in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

“I dunno… The fact you’ve been avoiding Fujisaki is just one example. Or how about when you sprint away from Sakura whenever she’s on the same path as you? Then again, you tend to pull your hat over your ears when Togami’s around…” He smiled wryly as Kazuichi shook his fist in annoyance. “… Sorry.”

“It’s not like these are people I can just get along with, y’know?! These jerks helped end the world, and they’re really mean and violent!” The mechanic grumbled sourly. His tongue rolled out of his mouth as he grinned a little nervously. “A-And anyway, it’s not like I’m worried about any of them right now…”

Hajime arched an eyebrow again.

“Then who are you worried about?’ As Kazuichi abruptly pointed his finger, the brunet followed its path until he saw a dark-haired girl sitting in the corner alone, staring at their table with an intensity that made Hajime shiver a little bit.

“I’ve been watching her, and she hasn’t taken her eyes off you since you entered the dining hall!” Kazuichi explained in a hushed, but still kinda loud, whisper. He then appeared shifty-eyed. “I don’t like it. She’s probably schemin’ something, and I can’t just let you fall into whatever trap she has planned!”

Hajime almost looked touched as Kazuichi said that with such passion in his voice.

“… Not before you get Fujisaki off my back, at least!”

Almost.

“I’ll talk with Fujisaki after breakfast, alright?” Hajime grinned sheepishly. “I can’t promise anything, though… Maizono hates my guts, and at least half of them won’t even listen to me. I dunno how receptive Fujisaki will be.”

Souda scratched his cheek and sighed in mild annoyance.

“Oi… Don’t go getting the wrong impression, alright? You’re more to me than just some guy that can talk to these crazies!” Kazuichi grinned and then gave a thumb’s up. “You’re my partner, my Soul Bro! I’d care about what would happen to ya even if Fujisaki was less hostile! … And don’t go thinking you’re not talented just ‘cause you aren’t making progress with these people! I betcha even Gekkogahara would be hitting a brick wall! We just gotta undo their brainwashing first.”

Hajime was about to lazily wave off his friend, when another person noisily set down their tray of food to gain his and Kazuichi’s attention. It worked, ‘cause Hajime nearly leaped out of his seat, and Kazuichi let out one of his well-known screeches.

“Indeed, the fires of pandemonium would spit these lost souls back out! Heed not their foul words nor any of their beguiling ways! Trust in my power, and we shall show them the path to true Hell!”

Hajime cracked a small grin as the breeder sat to his left; he was taking Gundham’s eccentricities a lot better than Kazuichi, who had yet to relax his face from the very disturbed look that he sometimes got… Poor guy always got spooked too easily.

“Hey, Gundham. How’s your morning been so far?” Hajime’s tone was light and casual, which seemed to please the breeder.

“Kehehe… It has been splendidly hellacious! My twelve Zodiac Generals had a magnificent feast before we attended to our morning duties… And then, forsooth! The supposed indomitable Ogre challenged this Supreme Overlord of Ice to a fight to the death this afternoon!” Toward the end, Gundham, whose arms remained crossed and his eyes closed, belted out a joyous evil cackle, his eyes snapping open excitedly.

The whole time Gundham had been regaling them, Kazuichi had managed to calm down and send the breeder an annoyed glance before resuming his meal. Hajime was picking at his own food, taking care to keep an eye on his dark-clothed friend in case he was supposed to pay particular attention to an aspect of his story. Both the counselor and the mechanic continued their morning meal in a mindless lull for about a minute before they both deciphered Gundham’s words at around the same time – particularly latching onto a single phrase in that maelstrom of childish descriptions.

“O-Ogre?!” Hajime stuttered, wide-eyed. “You mean Oogami?!”

“Are you nuts?!” Souda echoed his friend’s stunned reaction, hand palming his forehead. “She’s gonna snap you like a twig! Why’d you go and piss her off?!”

Gundham crossed his arms, his mouth buried in his scarf in a huff.

“Your concern is touching… though misplaced. For I have wrestled beasts even more Hellish than the Ogre, in her current form… She is but a lowly shell of the warrior she once was.”

“G-Gundham… Even if you say that, Oogami’s killed a lot of people!” Hajime made a pained expression as he faced the breeder, gesturing vaguely with his hand. “I think the only one in Ultimate Despair who has killed more people than Oogami is Ikusaba, and that’s really only because of all the weapons she uses! Sakura slaughters people with her bare hands!”

Hajime slightly winced as Gundham gave him a fierce look of disapproval, but he didn’t back down – and deep down, he believed Gundham respected that much about him. He wasn’t completely intimidated by the breeder’s ferocity.

“Let me ask you this…” Gundham remarked gravely, fixing both Kazuichi and Hajime with the same firm gaze, arms still crossed. “Among the Ogre’s ‘countless’ victims, how many were truly capable of putting up a fight with her? Most of them? Half of them? Even twenty five percent…? Nay. A meager ten percent – at best – were truly able to defend themselves against her! I read the reports, so I know that of which I speak! She hides behind a thin veil of ‘fighting anyone and everyone’, but in reality, she aims for the weak and defenseless! That is the Ogre’s Despair! She challenges me because she underestimates my power!”

With that hearty declaration, Gundham belted out yet another hearty, evil cackle. Hajime’s brow furrowed in contemplation as Kazuichi remained dismissive, calling Gundham nuts for accepting a challenge from Sakura Oogami. The brunet had to admit that Tanaka might very well have had a point… as a caretaker of animals, he would know to keep an eye out for these kinds of patterns in reports. The numerous reports on Oogami’s victims were staggering with the savage brutality involved in the murders, but Hajime couldn’t recall that little tidbit of information ever coming up – that most of her victims couldn’t even fight back. That said, it was understandable no one noticed, considering Oogami’s talent, but if most of the victims weren’t even capable of self-defense… Oogami would be getting no ‘thrill’ from her battles, merely despair.

And that would match Ultimate Despair’s M.O.

“A party…?” Togami’s eyebrows arched as he sat across the table from Munakata, arms crossed and one leg crossed over the other. “Really now?”

Munakata was leaning his elbows on the table as he laced his fingers together and stared over his knuckles at the heir.

“Up until now, we have been restricting your nighttime activities. I figured it might do you all some good to have at least one night out, spending it amongst friends.”

Togami’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at the proverbial carrot.

“You’re not going to allow us ‘true’ freedom, however… If you did, the possibility of us killing each other or plotting to overthrow you would be too great.”

“Of course we would need to be present.” Munakata reasoned diplomatically. “Consider this a way for our two groups to come together as one, even if for just one night.”

‘We don’t have to be enemies.’

Togami scoffed at the unspoken olive branch. While he himself didn’t care for socializing, he knew there were a few in Ultimate Despair who were going stir-crazy, cooped up in their rooms all night…

There were also those, however, who would demand he shoot this business proposition down like the Nazis over London. A dissatisfied faction was inevitable. At this point, it was a waiting game until Yasuke and Miaya fixed their “Despair” program… Did it truly matter if they accepted?

“I’ll run it by everyone.” Togami replied airily. He raised his head slightly as he peered at Munakata arrogantly. “Would you object to Ultimate Despair having a small meeting to vote on it? Place whatever restrictions you see fit, if it helps you sleep better.”

For Togami, this would be the only topic of discussion at the meeting; anyone else could take up their grievances with the Future Foundation for all he cared.

Munakata tapped his knuckle rhythmically as he mulled it over.

“… Guards will be stationed at all the exits, of course. But we will let you speak privately… for five minutes.” Munakata knew he was taking a real gamble here, but if this opened up doorways for cooperation between the Future Foundation and Ultimate Despair… If this allowed for any chance for Ultimate Despair to open up, and allow the Future Foundation to help them recover … Then Munakata was taking that gamble.

He would believe in the people they once were. Despair had claimed their minds and bodies, but Junko Enoshima was dead – the worst of the storm was over, and now the dark clouds could recede beyond the horizon. Damage could be repaired, even if they wouldn’t be exactly the same people they were prior to Despair.

~*~

Once the last of them trickled in and sat around the rectangular table, with Byakuya and Kyoko sitting at the heads of the table opposite each other, Leon broke the silence as the door closed behind Sakura.

“I know this is the first time we’ve gathered in a while, but anyone care to explain why he’s here?” The baseball player jabbed a thumb behind his back, towards Kamukura, who was leaning against the wall and looking as bored of everything as ever.

Hagakure blinked before pointing in outrage at Kamukura as well.

“Hey, yeah…! He’s not one of us!”

Kyoko crossed her arms and momentarily looked over at Hope’s Peak’s “grand” experiment before turning her attention back to everyone else.

“Izuru Kamukura comes and goes as he pleases. Let’s just cut to the chase and go over the proposition Togami was given; I agree that it takes precedence over everything else.”

Togami snorted.

“So you heard it, did you?” The heir was hardly surprised. The detective made it no great secret that she clearly and strongly disagreed with his decisions, as of late.

“P-Proposition…?” Yamada trailed off nervously, biting his fingernails.

“You were in the middle of a cafeteria with everyone present…” Kyoko tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “And personally, I am absolutely opposed. Regardless of the outcome of this meeting, I will not be going. Fraternizing with the enemy serves no point in this instance, and is simply frivolous. I predict none of us would be interested in taking up this offer, because it is ridiculous.”

Togami crossed his arms to mirror the stubborn Kirigiri.

“You’re opposed, no matter what? That’s fine. I had a hunch you would be. This meeting is for everyone, not just for you.” He coldly dismissed her out of hand, and disregarded the frosty glare she sent him in return.

Celes, who had remained quiet up until now, twirled a lock of hair around her finger idly.

“Togami, please do explain for the rest of the class, otherwise our five minutes will be up before you two finish your tete-tete and this meeting will have been worthless.”

“Very well…” Togami humphed before proceeding to lay it all out for everyone. Despite Kirigiri’s confidence that everyone would be united against the proposition, it appeared, for once, Togami had a better grasp on their organization’s personnel than Kirigiri did. A fact that he did not let go unacknowledged by the detective as he gave her a triumphant smirk, which she bitterly disregarded in favor of directing a silent communication with Celes.

“You’re not shitting me, right?!” Mondo had been the first one to speak up after Togami’s explanation. “They’re really gonna let us out of our rooms at night?!”

“Sounds like it’s a one-time deal…” Leon frowned before breaking into a wide grin and rubbing the back of his head. “But that’s still awesome…! Seriously sucks to be in those cabins for hours, nothin’ to do…”

“It sounds like we won’t have the same freedom that we do during the day, however…” Sakura mused, closing her eyes and crossing her arms, deep in thought.

“Plus, sounds like they’re gonna try to be buddy-buddy with us!” Asahina whined. Loudly.

“It doesn’t mean we have to be friendly with them in turn…” Fujisaki mused, tapping his chin with a frown. Mondo grinned and gave the programmer a thumb’s-up.

“Damn straight, kid! I’m just doin’ this to stretch my legs! The Future Foundation can fuck off!”

“I wonder if they’re gonna let us get drunk…” Hagakure cupped his chin shrewdly, to which Celes scoffed.

“I highly doubt there will be any alcohol… They are naïve in extending a hand of friendship, but they are not morons.” Even she had to acknowledge that much.

“Wh-What do you think about this party, Miss Ludenberg?” Yamada nervously asked, to which the gambler began twirling a lock of hair around her finger again.

“… Like Kyoko said, it is frivolous, and serves no purpose.” Celes then interlocked her fingers under her chin. “But I would be lying if the thought of defeating them at cards or Mahjong did not amuse me…”

Togami narrowed his eyes at the gambler’s stance. He had his suspicions for why she was willing to come when Kyoko wasn’t going to, but he wasn’t going to call her out on it. Wagering a verbal war with Celes or Kyoko never ended well…

Genocide Jill cackled as spit flew out of her mouth in glee.

“Who knows?! Maybe they’ll need one or two more cooks in the kitchen, and I can slice them all up?!”

Everyone stared at the serial killer, unimpressed. As insane as she was, she had to know, on some level, that was never going to happen. Fujisaki was never allowed near computers. Asahina wasn’t allowed out in the ocean. And Genocide Jill was never allowed blades of any kind – including butter knives. They all wrote off her comment as “heat of the moment”…

“I, of course, shall ensure there is order during this gathering…!” Ishimaru raised a fist proudly. Kuwata groaned in annoyance, as did Hagakure.

“You’re supposed to get wasted at parties, not treat ‘em like field trips…!” Hagakure grumbled.

“Fuck off…” Kuwata groaned.

Togami noticed a few of them had yet to give their opinions… although, Kamukura was likely to stay silent in his corner.

“How about you two? Maizono? Ikusaba?” He raised his chin at them, prompting them to speak up.

Sayaka merely beamed at all the attention on her.

“Well… I think it’s a waste of time, but I’ll come if Hinata-kun is the one to watch me.”

A few felt their skin crawl at the idol’s condition for coming to the party… While they were all for cruel treatment of the members of the Future Foundation, Maizono took it to another level when she was around Hajime Hinata. They weren’t going to touch that topic with a thousand foot pole… How Maizono conducted her affairs was her own damn business.

“I’ll go.” Mukuro intoned quietly, to the surprise of some. What they all missed, however, was how her gaze was directed at Maizono when she said that.

“To conclude this meeting, let’s just have a show of hands to confirm who will be attending this party.” Togami blandly ordered. As he looked around the table, it was going about as he expected it would… Most of them wanted to go. Kirigiri seemed to be the only holdout. Even the recluse Fujisaki and the conditional Maizono were raising their hands…

For now, Ultimate Despair was “united.” Though that did make Togami wonder just how long that was going to last…

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archadianskies · 5 years

Note

do u still write grelliam? bc grelliam - i said/did to make you laugh

→ ao3

If there is one thing Director William T. Spears detests above all else, it is inefficiency.

Yet how does one address inefficiency caused by injury? Harder still, when the inefficiency is borne from anxiety, from helplessness and frustration.

Both results have returned negative, small blessings and silver linings gilding an otherwise horrific situation. The Ancient one, so revered out of awe and fear, is the very reason the pair are here in the first place and had William known the extent of their injuries, of her injuries he wouldn’t have made her row them ashore.

“How long will they need to stay here?” He asks as Dr Charles Farrough comes to stand at Ronald’s bedside.

“A while, lad.” a heavy sigh as he glances at his clipboard. “In the very least, another week in recovery before they can begin physiotherapy. Scythe wounds can’t be healed using our regenerative abilities. It has to heal the long way.”

He’s no stranger to visiting the Infirmary, he’s even dragged Sutcliff here personally but even after her Jack the Ripper stint recovery had only taken a day’s worth of bed rest and a spoonful of Starlight analgesic before she was out the door; a week is an eternity for a Reaper used to healing in a few hours.

“Tests came back negative for the Thorn for both of them, so at least there’s that.” Charles sighs, knocking his glasses up briefly so he can rub his eyes tiredly. “The stitches run deep for Grell, the deepest I’ve sewn in a while now. Even when Cooper had his leg sliced off I only had to tack it in place and let his healing do the rest.”

“The Ancient One’s scythe and skill are still as deadly as the day he began.”

“Don’t discount her skills either, William.” He chides with a shake of his head. “Had it been Ronald receiving the brunt of the scythe, the lad would have died. That she’s here at all is testament to her strength.”

“Are they still sedated?” William asks, sparing Grell a brief glance before looking to the doctor.

“They should surface soon, but be gentle with them they won’t be coherent yet.” He reaches down to smooth Ronald’s ginger hair away from his pale face. “It takes a lot to put a Reaper under, so it’ll take a lot for them to claw their way back up.”

“I will keep that in mind, Dr Farrough.” He nods as Charles claps him on the shoulder.

“It’s just a waiting game now, lad. Be patient.”

The younger Reaper surfaces first, blinking awake and whining in pain when he tries to sit up. William presses Ronald’s shoulder firmly to prevent him from moving.

“Don’t.”

“Owww…” The boy whines, face scrunching up in pain. “Head’s stuffed with cotton and chest is on fire. Callin’ in sick today boss, sorry.”

“None of this is your fault, there is no need to apologize.” It comes out too sharp, too biting, and Ronald seems to shrink at his tone. He tries again. “You and Sutcliff are heavily injured, no one expects you to return to your duties immediately.”

Ronald tilts his head to the side, squinting at the occupant on the other bed. “Cap’n still out?”

“Yes.”

“I’d be dead if not for her, y’know.” Ronald’s voice drops to a whisper. “Shoved me outta the way when she saw that scythe come down for me.”

“You are young,” he reasons, “she knew you would not have survived.”

“But did she know she’d survive?” Ronald’s pleads, and lying there so pale from bloodloss and swamped with gauze and bandages he seems ever so small and even younger.

“I’m not sure.” He says, because it’s the truth and Ronald isn’t a child to be placated with sugary lies no matter the optimistic intent.

“I’ll be stronger, I promise.” His voice wavers, unsteady and unsure and William can count every single day of the scant century between their ages.

“Ronald I don’t think anything could have prepared you for that fight.” It’s the truth, again, but he hopes it’s reassuring in its helplessness.

“My chest feels like it’s on fire.” A couple of tears slip from the corner of his eye, rolling down towards his ear before he labours a hand up to brush them away.

“Recovery will be slow, Dr Farrough said.”

“Do we- do I have-”

“Tests came back negative.” William interjects, and then adds after a pause. “For you both.”

Ronald says nothing, but he sighs in such relief. He’s not used to giving comfort, but he manages to pat Ronald’s hand in a way he hopes to convey his well wishes. It seems to work. The younger reaper closes his eyes and sleeps.

He’s partway through the day’s checks and balances of deaths and souls when Grell finally surfaces from sedation. It’s more violent than Ronald’s slow awakening, it’s eyes snapping open it’s a strained gasp it’s a pained cry and she turns her head this way and that to take in her surroundings.

“Sutcliff.” He keeps his voice low and steady, and it’s enough to focus on her attention.

“Will?”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’m being held together by a single silk thread.” She huffs a tired laugh, sinking back into her pillow and staring at the ceiling. “Which I’m sure isn’t far from the truth.”

“Dr Farrough said the stitches are numerous and deep due to the severity of the injury.” William confirms with a nod. “Recovery will be slow for the both of you, even moreso for you though I’m sure you surmised that.”

“Didn’t think I’d make it, to be honest.” She grins wryly though she doesn’t meet his gaze. “Thought I’d be sliced in half and be done with it all.”

“I-” a sharp intake of breath, a gathering of courage and discarding of pride. “I didn’t realise the extent of your injuries when I made you row us ashore and I know that only exacerbated the scythe wound. You lost a significant amount of blood in the process and pulled the wound open deeper than it was.”

“An apology, my my.” Grell drawls, lips twitching up briefly. “Things must be dire, Will. Did my result come back positive for the Thorn?”

“No. Both tests came back negative.” It’s a splinter, her words, burrowing beneath his skin and he accepts it as penance owed. “I’m apologising because you deserve an apology for my actions.”

“I’m exhausted, love.” She sighs, eyes fluttering closed. “I’ve never felt so tired in my life.”

“Then rest, Sutcliff.” He implores her, pride be damned as he reaches to squeeze her hand. “You need to rest.”

When William returns the next day Ronald is fast asleep, and Grell is propped up by pillows behind her neck and back. She gives him a lazy wave of her fingers.

“Good morning, Sutcliff.”

“Hello darling.” Her voice is softer and scratchier with fatigue. “Still holding together at the seams.”

He nods at that and takes a seat at her bedside. He’s come prepared, arms full of the day’s paperwork to manage.

“Ronnie and I will have to get Eric and Alan thank you presents.” She muses, fingers toying with the blanket hem. “All the inevitable overtime they’ll be doing because of us.”

“It’s not your fault.” He says firmly, frowning at her. “They’ll take on extra duties but that’s the way it has to be for now.”

There’s more to be said but she doesn’t say it, only purses her pale lips tightly and stares down at her hands. The bloodloss and fatigue make her look younger, more like the incorrigible student he butted heads with back in their Academy days. Without her makeup he can see the smattering of cinnamon freckles on her skin, can see the pale ginger lashes without their black lacquer framing her eyes. She’s without her painted mask, she’s without her bravado and everything feels wrong.

William focuses on his paperwork and she focuses on her chipped red nail polish.

The work is ceaseless and unrelenting but such is their duty. He was able to spare them several hours in the first two days but now he’s only able to duck in to see them and talk briefly with Dr Farrough to discuss their progress. Ronald is healing well, his injuries not as severe as his senior and Dr Farrough hopes to clear him for physiotherapy in three days time. Grell, on the other hand, is recovering slower than projected. The wound is deep, but clean, and by that logic it should be an easier recovery. It is not.

They haven’t had to resort to sedation again, but it’s come close to that, Dr Farrough tells him. Twice she’s woken from sleep in agony, and once he’s had to replace her stitches after she tried clawing them out.

It’s six days since he’s had time to properly sit in the hospital room, and by now Ronald’s been discharged to the care of Eric Slingby for light bed rest and physiotherapy thrice a week at the training facility.

Grell is a spot of red in a sea of clinical whites and muted greys, and the room seems to swallow her up. He brings her some tea and a pastry from the cafeteria, which elicits a small tired smile.

“You’re going to scold me for scratching my stitches aren’t you.” She sighs heavily, tracing the rim of her teacup.

“No.” He shakes his head. “I don’t understand the pain you’re in, so I can’t make judgement on that.”

“It feels like ice.” She rests her palm gingerly to her chest. “I can’t describe it. It’s like ice but hot. A hot sort of cold. A cold so intense it feels hot.”

“It’s your body’s healing response trying to knit the tissue back together.” He leans over to cut the pastry for her to prevent her performing the repetitive back and forth motion with the knife that will aggravate her fresh stitches.

“This is going to leave one hell of a scar.” She toys with the handle of her cup, pointedly avoiding his gaze. “I already hate what I see in the mirror, what more now that there’ll be a hideous gash running right across my torso?”

He hadn’t thought about that, not at all because that’s a pain only she feels and the wound is yet another pain only for her to experience and all at once he feels like a fool, so very sorry indeed.

“I’m going to relive that moment every time I bathe, every time I change my clothing.” Her breathing comes quicker now, and her voice warbles with barely restrained tears. “Ronnie gets a scar he can brag to the ladies about and I get another nail in this goddamn coffin of a body.”

He doesn’t know what to say, he can’t relate to a fight that isn’t his and yet he knows he played some part in her suffering. William clears his throat, reaching over to pat her hand reassuringly.

“Drink your tea, Grell. It’ll go cold.” She manages a wobbly smile.

“Of course Will.”

A full eight days after the projected schedule Grell Sutcliff is discharged to the care of William T. Spears for light bed rest and physiotherapy thrice a week at the training facility. He takes her home on a stormy London afternoon wrapped in a thick coat and scarf. They have to travel the mortal way, as she’s too fragile to be leaping and bounding across rooftops and making the quick jumps that allow reapers to move at inhuman speeds. It isn’t a long journey by any means but she falls asleep leaning against him and he doesn’t say a word.

She settles into his guest bedroom and she’s too tired to joke about getting into his (pyjama) pants or between his sheets, Grell simply rests her head on the pillow and falls asleep again. He only wakes her later to coax her to eat a light dinner and then he leaves her be for the rest of the evening. Physiotherapy awaits the next day and he knows she needs her rest.

Physiotherapy, William learns, does not go well and Grell ends up back at the Infirmary for reopening her wound. When he’s signed off on the last of the day’s reports he finally heads over in the early evening to visit her only to be intercepted by Dr Farrough first.

“Not tonight, lad.” He grips William’s shoulder. “She’s a right mess and it’s not a good idea to see her.”

“She’s hurt again.” He tries to reason, but the doctor shakes his head.

“She is, in more ways than one.” Charles glances at the door of her room. “Come back tomorrow after she’s rested and composed herself. She’s in a bit of a state right now.”

It’s taken him too long to do the decent thing, really and he’s mentally kicking himself for not doing this sooner. The shop is a small one but it’s bursting with colour and the heady, heavy aroma of an amalgamation of blooms.

He selects a single red rose and then requests the florist build a bouquet around it so the rose is the centrepiece. It’s a large, dramatic arrangement which he thinks suits her quite well, and it’s finished off with a large red organza bow around the stems.

Unwilling to risk damaging the flowers, he travels the mortal way in a vehicle with the bouquet on his lap. He wrinkles his nose, feeling a tickle in his nostrils. Dust from the interior of the vehicle, surely.

It’s the pollen. William realises it as he’s walking to the Infirmary with his eyes watering and an incessant itching in his nose. He sneezes for the umpteenth time, startling a clinician who he apologises to immediately.

Grell is sitting up in bed, eyes and the tip of her nose pink from crying. He can tell she’s frustrated and upset with herself, but the expression vanishes when she spots him in the doorway with the large bouquet.

“Will?”

“Grell, these are for y-y-” He squeezes his eyes shut to fight off an impending sneeze. “For y-achoo!” It fails. “Apologies, it seems the pollen is a-aggra-achoo!” Another sneeze. “Oh blast it.” He mutters, crossing the room to thrust the bouquet into her hands. “Here, I- achoo!”

She giggles, shoulders shaking until the giggle turns into a bright laugh.

“Well I’m glad my suffering is amusing to you.” He comments dryly as she launches into another peal of laughter.

“They’re lovely.” She hugs the bouquet, burying her nose in it to savour their sweet scent. When she looks up at him, she smiles, eyes bright. “Thank you William.”

It’s all worth it, William realises even as he wrinkles his nose to try and stave off another sneeze. Leaning over he presses a kiss to the crown of her head.

“You’re welcome, Grell.”

*~*~*

[The amaranth flower is one of the symbols of immortality and has been used as such a symbol since the time of Ancient Greece. Indeed, the word comes from the Greek amarantos (Αμάρανθος or Αμάραντος), meaning the “one that does not wither,” or the never-fading (flower).]

It’s also a flower with a high pollen count sorry Will ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#grelliam #grell sutcliff #william t. spears #ronald knox #kuroshitsuji #annie writes: kuroshitsuji #hope you like it!#it turned into a bit of a monster WHOOPS #post campania arc is my FAVE timeframe to write in #princedamianos #adventures in text posts

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comicgeekscomicgeek · 5 years

Text

Their Hero Academia: Chapter 15

As always, raw and unedited until it gets added to AO3 and FF.net. This chapter also owes a great deal to my friend, Allie, who suggested some of the dialog in this chapter, as well as some of the details surrounding Kenta Sato’s mom that I had never planned for originally.

Chapters 0-12 can be found here.

Chapter 13 (unedited) is here

Chapter 14 (unedited) is here

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 15: Kenta Sato and the Pain of Memories and Moving On

Many years ago…

“Kenta,” Takuma asked, “can I ask a question?”

He looked up from his bowl of cereal. Ever since his Quirk came in, he hasn’t had to worry about getting cavities, so he can eat all the sugary cereal he wants. “Sure,” he said.

“Do you miss your mommy?”

Kenta looked down again. “All the time. But Daddy says she’s always watching me.”

“Oh,” Takuma said. His grin became what, in later years, Kenta would call his “Good Idea” face. “Do you think you could ask her not to watch for a little while? I don’t think she’s going to like my idea…”

“…I’ll ask her to watch Daddy for a little while.”

***

In spite of a somewhat eventful Monday through Thursday, Friday had passed without incident, and Kenta had left the school grounds early on Saturday morning to head to the apartment he shared with his dad. It wasn’t particularly far, as Dad has moved the two of them to it to be fairly close to U.A. when he had accepted the job running the cafeteria.

Kenta turned the key and stepped inside. “Dad? I’m home!”

No voice answered him, but he knew that sometimes, his dad got so focused working in the kitchen that he didn’t hear anything else. Kenta headed there, but found no sign of his dad. There was, however, a note on the counter.

Kenta,

Went out to pick up a few extra ingredients for tonight’s dinner and dessert. Left you some breakfast on the counter. Be back soon!

Love,

Dad

Oh, well, that was good. But speaking of food, his rumbling stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten breakfast before he’d left the dorms. On the counter was a bowl of nuts and bolts. It brought a grin to Kenta’s face. Dad may have occasionally groused about the eating habits he’d developed because of his Quirk (“A house full of food and the kid’s eating rocks!”), but he was indulgent enough to keep the kinds of things Kenta liked to eat on hand. He popped a few nuts into his mouth and chewed them up.

Maybe his wasn’t the flashiest or most impressive of Quirks, but he’d done good enough with it to get into the Heroics Course. Besides, it meant that a snack was always in arms’ reach.

He noticed that his dad’s cell phone was also sitting on the counter. He must have forgotten it when he left. It looked like a number of texts had come in since he’d left.

1) Koda: Please call me if you need me today, Sato.

2) Kirishima: Katsuki and I are thinking of you, bro!

3) Ojiro: Hope you’re doing all right. Toru and I are keeping you in our thoughts.

4) Sero: Hey, man. I’m sorry about Mina. She means well, but she can be kind of insensitive sometimes. Let us know if you need anything!

5) Midoria: I know you’re spending the day with Kenta, but just let us know if you want to get together sometime after that!

6) Iida: Please accept my deepest sympathies and know Mei and I are keeping you in our thoughts.

7) Habuko: I’ll see you there today. Be well.

8) Pink Trouble: Sato, I’m not sorry about what I said. But I am sorry about the timing of it. Call me. Please.

Kenta felt a little guilty reading his dad’s texts, but considering they were right there to be seen, it wasn’t much. But now we was curious. What exactly had Aunt Mina said? It looked like she and his dad were fighting? But what about? The other texts, at least, weren’t unexpected. There were probably more that had come in earlier in the day. Kenta had been lucky enough to get out of the dorms without running into anyone other than Takuma (who’d hugged him), Midoriya (who’d expressed sympathy) and Kirishima-Bakugo (who’d given him a polite nod that was the emotional equivalent of a long conversation for her). Not that he was deliberately trying to avoid his friends and classmates, just… today was rough.

The anniversary of the day his mom had died always was. It had been ten years now. And it still didn’t seem any easier.

***

Rikido Sato had first met Chizu Ito via a conspiracy. She had been a friend of Habuko Mongoose at Isamu Academy, and Mongoose had been the good friend of his father’s friend Tsuyu Asui. So when several of the girls of Isamu Academy had gotten together for a party with the girls of U.A., Aunt Tsu had asked his dad to provide the desserts. He’d meant to just drop the desserts off and go, but Aunt Tsu and Mongoose had both insisted he stay and meet some of the girls. They’d been incredibly insistent that he meet Chizu.

The two had hit it off and made plans for a date. One date turned into many, and many turned into marriage. Years later, Aunt Tsu would reveal she and Mongoose had conspired to get the two to meet, believing that they would hit it off. They had been very happy.

His mom had been a tall woman, taller even than his dad. Her Quirk had been a strong one, letting her absorb inorganic matter and using that to increase her mass and strength. But his memories of her were as a happy woman, with a glowing smile. He remembered her hands were soft, soothing as she held him after a nightmare, her touch gentle when she patched up his “ouchies.” He remembered his parents laughing in the kitchen, or snuggling on the couch, sneaking kisses when they thought he wasn’t looking.

After he’d been born, his parents had decided that while his mom would resume active Hero work, his dad would mostly step back from that. Lunch Rush was retiring, U.A. was looking for a new head chef to run the cafeteria, and both of them were a little bit worried about what might happen if both of them were active Heroes. While that didn’t seem to matter to the majority of their friends, no one dismissed their worries or thought less of him for taking a step back. He still went out on occasion when needed, or stepped in where he was available to act, but he devoted himself more to community outreach and the students of U.A. So Upsize had risen back in the rankings, eventually becoming the Number Twenty Hero, and Sugarman had happily dropped to the lower tiers.

They’d have a good life. They’d been a happy family.

He had been five when she’d died.

No, that wasn’t exactly right.

He had been seven when she’d been killed.

It had been bad times. A new League of Villains had tried to get off the ground, and the Pro-Hero community had been working nonstop to put them out of commission before anything serious could happen. They hadn’t been the nihilistic League of old, just a bunch of Villains who had found they were stronger together than apart, and willing to settle for smaller piece of a more guaranteed pie. But they had been a serious threat all the same. Their Quirks were powerful and many Pro-Heroes had been seriously injured fighting them.

It had come down to a big battle between the League and several Pro-Heroes, including Red Riot, Real Steel, and Chargebolt. Including Upsize.

To say the battle between the two groups had been brutal was an understatement. The villain known as Strongarm had nearly beaten Red Riot to death. Kirishima-Bakugo’s father was lucky to have survived his injuries, let alone have recovered from them enough to return to active Hero work. Uncle Denki still carried a few scars from that fight.

And his mom… His mom had fought a Villain called Hexsplode, who a Quirk which let her shoot beams from her eyes that made whatever it hit explode. In a terrible set of circumstances, she’d managed to use that power on a piece of rubble, just as his mom had absorbed it. It had exploded within her, badly injuring her. She had fought on, subduing the Villain before she could hurt anyone else in that fight. But her injuries had been too severe and she’d died before she could receive medical attention. They’d never even gotten the chance to say good-bye.

***

It was called Valhalla Cemetery and everyone buried in it was a Pro-Hero. Many had fallen in the line of duty, others of disease or natural causes. But all of them had used their Quirks in the cause of justice. Grand Torini was buried here, so was Native, and so were many others.

And so was his mom.

Kenta and his dad walked silently through the rows of headstones and memorials, occasionally pausing to pay respect to another Pro-Hero. There were so many graves and his mom was quite far back.

It wasn’t the fanciest headstone in the cemetery, but like everything there, it was well cared for. There were a few small tokens left on or around it, from people his mom had saved during her all too brief stint as a Pro-Hero. There was already someone standing in front of the headstone and Kenta quickly realized it was Aunt Habuko, instantly recognizable from her shock of red hair and snake-like head. According to his parents, he’d found her absolutely terrifying as a baby, but the only memories he had of her were happy ones. She was surprisingly funny when she wanted to be, and caring in spite of her harsh appearance.

Her tongue flicked out and she turned her head to watch the two of them. “Hello, Rikido, Kenta. I didn’t expect to beat you here.”

“My fault,” his dad said. “I had to go out and pick up a few things and was running behind.”

She nodded, accepting the explanation without criticism.

They stood and looked at the grave.

Chizu Sato

-Upsize-

5/19/XXXX – 4/8/XXXX

Beloved wife and mother, Hero

His dad laid a hand on the headstone and lowered his head. Kenta could see the tears in his eyes falling unashamedly. “I miss you, babe,” he said. “Every day. Thank you, for everything. Never did think a girl could fall for a big lug like me. You made every day amazing.

“You’d be so proud of Kenta. He got into U.A., just like me. He’s gonna make us both proud, I just know it. Though if you’re watching out for him, maybe tell him not to listen to Takuma so much, okay?”

In spite of himself, Kenta felt the smallest smile pull at his lips. But he found tears were falling from his own eyes too. He’d been so young when she’d died. Their home was filled with pictures of him and his mom and of all three of them. There were lots of videos they had shot over the years. And even one memorable episode of Cooking with Pro Heroes that had featured his mom and dad competing against other Pro Hero couples.

But sometimes, he found it harder and harder to remember her voice. His dad had gone an amazing job raising him, dealing with all the challenges that had arisen over the years. But all his friends still had their mothers, and he remembered how much it had hurt sometimes, to see them with their moms, knowing he didn’t have one anymore. He remembered…

***

“Daddy?” he’d asked, when his father had come to pick him up. He’d been staying with Uncle Koji and Aunt Ibara, playing with Akaya. It was earlier than expected, his dad should have still been at U.A. for the day. His dad’s eyes were red and puffy, like he’d been crying.

“Daddy, are you okay?” he’d asked. And where was his mom? Usually, they picked him up together.

His dad had bent down next to him, pulling him into a tight hug against his broad chest.

“Kenta…” he’d said, trailing off. “Kenta…”

His dad had taken a deep breath, and tried again. “Kenta… I’m… I’m so sorry. Your mommy’s not coming home.”

That hadn’t made much sense to him. “Is she working late? Does she gotta stop the bad guys?”

His father’s face had fallen, tears welling up in his eyes. “Kenta… Your mommy’s not coming home ever again. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

He hadn’t understood then, but he’d known how brave his dad was. To have seen him cry like that could only mean something was very wrong. He’d understand all too soon.

The days that followed had been full of people in their home. Uncle Koji, Aunt Mina and Uncle Sero, Aunt Habuko, former teachers from U.A. and Isamu Academy, family, and friends. They had all said how sorry they were. His friends had all said how sorry they were. But they had all been there with their moms and his was gone and never coming back. Really, the only one who had understood was Katsumi Kirishima-Bakugo, whose father still lay in a hospital bed, fighting for every breath and clinging to life. They had drifted apart over the years, but in that moment, the two of them had been there for each other.

Oh, the adults had all said, what a hero she had been. The TV had all talked about what a hero she had been, how they were proud of the Hero who had laid down her life for them.

But nothing changed the fact that he was five years old and he was never going to see his mom again.

***

Kenta put his own hand on the grave.

“Mom… I know you’re watching over me. Thank you. Don’t know how I’d have done any of this without you. I hope I can make you proud. I just…

“I wish I’d gotten to know you more. I wish we’d had more time. I wanted you to see who I’ve become. I really hope you’re still watching out for me. I’m gonna need all the help I can get if I’m gonna be a hero like you.

“But, ah, I am getting to be pretty famous. On the internet, anyway. Takuka says we can make it pretty big…”

He wiped the tears from his eyes. “I just… I just wish… I wish you’d been here. There’s so much I wish we’d gotten to do together, so much I wish I’d gotten to show you.

“I… I miss you. So much. And I wish…

“I wish I could remember you better. And I’m worried I’m starting to forget you. Not… forget you, forget you. You’re my mom. I’ll always remember you. But I don’t know if I can remember your voice. Sometimes, in my memories, in my dreams, I can’t see your face… I don’t want to forget…”

He felt a strong arm wrap itself around him, his father pulling him close. No more words were needed as they stood there, letting their thoughts wander. Their loss still pulled at them. It always would. But they were strong for each other. And they always would be. That was what family meant.

***

As they ate their dinner (which he had helped prepare), Kenta did have to admit, there was something to be said for eating actual food instead of whatever happened to be within arms’ reach. Still… there was something nagging at the back of his mind.

“Dad,” he began, “why aren’t you talking to Aunt Mina?”

His dad frowned, swallowing the bite of food in his mouth. “What’re you talking about, Kenta?”

“You left your phone this morning,” Kenta said. “I saw the texts. I saw Uncle Hanta apologizing for her too. What’s going on?”

His dad looked distinctly uncomfortable. “It’s nothing. Just an argument between adults.”

Kenta definitely didn’t believe that. His dad was too soft-hearted to every fight with anyone for long. And Takuma’s mom got along with pretty much everyone, whether they wanted to or not.

“Dad, I’m not a kid. I’m fifteen. If something’s going on, you can tell me.”

His dad frowned again. “…your Aunt Mina thinks I should start dating. She’s been trying to fix me up for months.”

Kenta was glad he wasn’t drinking, because he probably would have done a spit take. “Oh.”

“You don’t have to worry,” his dad said quickly. “I’ve been telling her no. No one’s ever going to replace Chizu.”

Kenta looked down at his plate. In all honesty, this was a conversation he’d thought about having with his dad before. But he’d never been sure how to bring it up. He knew his dad was happy, but also that he had to be lonely. “I think you should let her.”

“…What?”

Kenta took a breath, to steady his nerves and thoughts. “I know you love Mom. And I know you miss her. I do too. And I know you’ve been living your life for me. And that’s great, it really is. I couldn’t have asked for a better dad than you.

“But I’m part way out of the house now, on my way to becoming a Pro-Hero. And you deserve a chance to have a life too. If you want to start dating, if you find someone who makes you happy, I’m not going to think you’re replacing Mom. You get to be happy too, Dad.”

“Kenta, I… I can’t. It’s been too long. Your mom…”

He shook his head. “I don’t remember much, but from everything you ever told me… Mom would want you to be happy, Dad. I want you to be happy. And it sounds like that’s all Aunt Mina wants.”

His dad wiped away a tear. “When did you get so smart? I’m lucky to have you.”

“I’m pretty lucky too, Dad.”

A long moment passed, in peaceful silence. Finally, Kenta spoke again. “You know, you didn’t seem to think I was so smart on Thursday. What were your exact words? “Wasting your Quirk on nonsense.’”

“I stand by those words,” he said. “But I’m also not going to stand in the way of your dreams. Just… find somewhere to do it other than my cafeteria, okay?”

Kenta laughed at that. “Yeah, okay, I’ll tell Takuma we need to find another place for our show.”

“I swear, that boy has gotten you in so much trouble…”

“Daaaad…”

And somehow, as it did, life went on.

#my hero academia #their hero academia #my writing #fan fic #fan fiction

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harrv · 6 years

Note

I saw this on my other fandom so I hope you don't mind. Make a list of your top 20 favorite fics. Then, tag 20 people (or as many as you like) ❤️

ooooh okay! i never made a long ass ficrec before so here we go *cracks knuckles*

[not in particular order!] [all are harry/louis]

~ also, i tag anyone who wants to do a fic rec! just say i tag u :)

1. Unbelievers by isthatyoularry / 136k

It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan.

Or: The one where Louis and Harry definitely aren’t friends, and football is everything.

2. Young & Beautiful by Velvetoscar / 227k

Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn’t stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

3. Gods & Monsters by Velvetoscar / 201k

The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that’s exactly what he did.

4. all we can do is keep breathing by @avocadolouie / 149k+ (as of june 7)

“Harry, I-I’m so sorry…” Louis stutters out, trying to keep his voice level and even, to portray a depiction of strength, but with the way Harry is looking at him, staring at him like he has a personal passage way straight to Louis’ soul, it’s so hard, nearly impossible.

That simple opening phrase, that short introductory acknowledgement that is often rushed out so easily, painlessly, at a safe distance. Giving a doctor the ability to portray empathy without true emotion, without feeling the full brunt and sheer force of the underlying pain itself.

But Louis feels it, he feels the crushing agony laced behind the phrase, he feels the weight of the painful words slipping from his lips, the cause and effect that the three-word expression holds. The distantly empty “I’m so sorry” that doctors throw out in self-preservation, isn’t at all empty for him. Louis recognizes it, he understands it, he feels it.

a fated story of two broken and battered boys who barely survived the unimaginable and how the love of one little brave girl defies all the odds and somehow puts them back together.

[more under the cut]

5. Empty Gold by rainbow_kings / 148k

AU where Louis Tomlinson attends the vigorous, demanding performing arts school: Guildhall in hopes to complete his theatre degree. He is a scholarship student, always having to work twice as hard to prove his worth which has caused him to feel resentment and anger towards his subordinate position.

Harry Styles is the wealthy, naturally gifted actor who effortlessly snatches all the main roles within the class. The complete contrast to everything Louis is.Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles have had bad blood and despised each other for the two years they attended Guildhall together, making each task a competition between each other.

In the final year, when Guildhall produces and performs an original play, Louis is heartbroken to learn the lead role has been been received to Harry and he’s the second role. He’s mostly terrified, however, when he realises he has to date Harry in the play as their characters. They come together through awkward stage kisses that transforms to hate sex, heated arguments, rehearsal times after lectures and baking carrot cake together.

6. Crave by @dimpled-halo / 89k

All eyes are on Louis Tomlinson to bring new talent to save Hanover Records from the mess the previous executive left behind. His newest artist, Harry Styles, is charismatic and everything Louis needs to revive the label. It’s up to Louis and his team to make Harry the star he was born to be. When Harry and Louis come face to face, it isn’t the first time they’ve met, and their worlds are about to be turned upside down.

7. Needing You More and More, Let’s Give Love A Try by supernope / 33k

When Harry gets pregnant after a one night stand, Louis helps him get everything together, from buying pregnancy clothes to taking him on a babymoon. Somewhere along the way, they realize that their feelings for each other are more than platonic.

8. The Night Sky is Changing Overhead by @domestic-harry / 124k

“Um, sorry, but I believe that’s actually mine,”

Harry said a bit awkwardly, pointing at the cup. The man huffed, slightly narrowing his blue eyes, “Nope, large Americano, dash of cream.” He held the coffee up closer to Harry and honestly, Harry knew exactly what was in the cup because it was his coffee.

“Right,” Harry slowly drawled out as if he was talking to a toddler, “Which would make that mine.”“

Look, I really don’t have time for this, I’m running late. And this,” he said before he took a sip from the cup, “Is mine.”

Harry’s jaw dropped and he held his hands out, failing them slightly, “Wha-you can’t just drink it!”

“Well I did, so, do you still want it or can I be on my way?” The man challenged.Harry shook his head disbelievingly, “Take it, but for the record, it says Harry on it.”

The man turned the cup around and a sharp laugh came out of his mouth, “Well, shit.” He looked at Harry, a smile stretched across his face as crinkles formed next to his eyes. “Thanks, Harry.”

9. the wonderlands by stylinsoncity / 150k

Harry’s daughter, Andy, is signed to Louis’ girl band. Her path to success is marked by competition, chaos, and for Harry, a love affair.

10. If I Was Stronger by haloeverlasting / 50k

Harry lets out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. She feels tingly, and hot, and absolutely terrified, but the next time she looks in the mirror, she sees someone she knows intimately. She sees that girl with bright green eyes, and unruly hair, and parted lips, and she loses her breath a moment, because while she knows that girl inside and out, she hasn’t been honest with herself until… well, now.

“I might be gay.”

A Girl Direction AU where Louis holds universes inside her, and Harry just wants to hold her.

11. Now In A Minute by @avocadolouie / 150k

13 feels like yesterday for many people, but for Louis it actually was.More than anything in the world, Louis Tomlinson dreams of growing up. Simply skipping over all of the awkward, embarrassing years of teenage existence and getting on with life. Real life.

So when thirteen-year-old Louis wakes up in the body of his thirty-year-old self, he expected everything in his adult life to be picture perfect. And maybe it is. He has it all…or so it seems.

Except his favorite person and lifelong best mate, Harry Styles, is totally missing from the equation and Louis doesn’t understand why. He has a lot of catching up to do and as adult life turns out to be more than what he bargained for, Louis can’t help wondering why a life that seemed so perfect, feels so empty.

Or the 13 going on 30 au that should have been done years ago.

12. Fake It Till You Make It by @avocadolouie / 136k

In a twisted turn of events, Louis finds himself posing as the brother of his fiancé, Harry, for an annual company retreat.

Did he sign up for this? No.

Is he doing it anyway? Yes.

Can they actually pull this off? Probably not.

13. precious little thing by mercutionotromeo / 21k

Niall grins deviously and hits “make call”, putting his phone on speaker. They lean in close to peer down at the screen, heads knocking lightly together. Dull rings reverberate quietly around the room and mix with the monotonous buzz of the lights. It rings for a while - maybe six or seven times - then the other line picks up.

There’s a slow, steady inhale, and a low voice purrs, “Hi, sexy.”

Jesus - this guy has barely said two words, and both of them have made Harry’s cock twitch in his jeans. That’s not even getting to what those words are, and why he’s saying them, and how Harry’s stomach is dropping into his shoes at the mere thought of him saying… other words. Words like “cock”, and “please”, and “come”.

Also known as: a university AU featuring phone sex operator Louis, copious amounts of sweet, soft kink discovery, and Louis being Harry’s Daddy.

14. Say You’ll Remember by whisperdlullaby / 93k

au. louis and harry are best mates that are only half aware that they’re also soulmates. alternatively, louis goes to university and harry travels the world, and they always manage to find their way back to each other.

takes place over nine years, in which they love and hurt, make mistakes and learn, and above all, grow.

15. Grenadine Sunshine by @horsegirlharry / 18k

Harry’s only sixteen, it shows right now, and Louis wants…he wants so many things. He wants to taste the faint, sugary ghost of lip gloss, he wants to cup Harry’s face between his palms and swipe the shimmery wet shadows from beneath his eyes. He wants to show him everything he knows, even though he doesn’t know anything about this, about kissing boys or flirting with them or doing their makeup or even showing them it’s okay to want to wear makeup in the first place. Still, Louis just wants, wants and wants and wants. It’s what Harry does to him.

16. California Sold by isthatyoularry / 123k

Notoriously closeted boyband member Harry Styles is famous on a global scale, meanwhile Louis, as his best friend, is back home in Manchester, living the typical life of a 24 year old. When Harry needs Louis with him in LA, a publicity stunt gone wrong changes their friendship forever.

A fake-relationship AU between two lifelong best friends.

17. Do Not Go Gentle by afirethatcannotdie / 70k

“This is all a game to you, isn’t it? Well, it’s not for me. This is a real life or death situation,” Louis says, spitting the words at him. “And I just don’t think you’re cut out for it.”

For a moment, they stare at each other in complete silence. Harry can feel his blood thrumming between his ears, can see Louis glaring at him, feels red-hot anger. And then all he feels, oppressively and desperately, is lust.

Suddenly Louis is surging up to him to press his lips against Harry’s. Harry walks the two of them backwards, pressing Louis back against the door. Louis oomphs in surprise and brings his hands under Harry’s scrub top, scratching at his lower back.

“Lock — oh — lock the… fucking door,” Louis mutters.

When Harry Styles starts his first day as a surgical intern, he expects a lot of things: to treat patients, to observe a surgery, to feel a bit overwhelmed. What he definitely doesn’t expect, however, is that the handsome guy he kicked out of his bed this morning is also an intern.A Grey’s Anatomy AU where tensions are high, Harry and Louis are hooking up in secret, and no one has time for love. Or do they?

18. Finding Lou by stylinsoncity / 60k

Louis is the nomadic stranger who wanders into Harry’s bookstore. Harry is the skeptic who falls for him.

19. Coax the Cold by MediaWhore / 86k

England, 1897.

English Professor Louis Tomlinson’s passion for the occult has been a source of mockery and derision for most of his life. When he hears whispers of a travelling freak show newly established in London claiming the existence of a monstrous sea hybrid, half-man, half-fish, Louis sees it as his ticket to credibility amongst his peers. The summer he spends undercover working on the show, however, gives him much more than that.

20. Here In The Afterglow by @fondleeds

“If you hadn’t noticed, I don’t have many friends,” Louis whispers, the blossom of insecurity in his stomach unfurling and clawing its way into his throat.

Harry is silent for a long time, and then he speaks; a soft, slow uncurl that makes Louis’ stomach shake. “I’ll be your friend.”

-1970’s AU. In a tiny town in Idaho, Louis’ life is changed forever by the arrival of a curious stranger.

#anonymous #whew thats it #thats a lot #also i didnt tag anyone bc im too tired to think of ppl sdsj its 1 am #and these arent only my fave fics ive got more but these are the only ones i could think of rn dfhdfdj #fic

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imwastingmylifeinhere · 7 years

Text

Magnus Chase and the Obligatory Hogwarts AU Ch8

On ao3

So here's the new chapter! I don't have to make any comments about being dragged to rehab this time, so on with the story!

The Hufflepuff Horror party had everyone at the edge of their seats like always. Anyone with a friend in Hufflepuff was constantly trying to fish them for details about anything and everything; what would be the theme this year, what would the decorations be like, what food they were planning on having. Every time they had Charms, someone would try and get Professor Blitzen to tell them what he would dress up as or at least give them a clue.

Needless to say, it didn’t work. The Hufflepuff students had their lips sealed tight, Magnus included, and Alex would tease him about how he was even more secretive than a freaking cult member.

The party wasn’t the only thing that was having the table 19 gang so excited. Sam and Alex were scheming, and so were T.J and Magnus. As secretive as they might try to be about their plot to hook up their friends, there was an air of giddy excitement to them that everyone picked up, even Mallory and Halfborn, but they just thought it was because of the party.

There was something else they had noticed too, or rather, Sam, Mallory and T.J had. Ever since the time T.J had been absent and Alex had worked with Conall in Potions, the two had become friends and would work together in Potions or hang out when they had a shared class.

But they didn’t do that now. There was an almost subconscious change to Alex’s behavior around the Ravenclaw. They didn’t tell each other jokes – and when Conall told her one, she didn’t laugh like she used to – she didn’t work with him in Potions like she did previously and she didn’t wave at him when she saw him in the Hall of the Slain or the corridors.

It was becoming glaringly clear to everyone that Alex was avoiding her new friend and they couldn’t figure out why. Then one day, as Sam and Mallory were talking together, they realized when it had started.

“It started after our Hogsmeade weekend,” Sam said.”Think about it. That’s the first time you saw her act like that.”

Mallory scrunched her eyebrows together as she remembered that, yes, that had been when it all had started. All the incidents of Alex blatantly avoiding Conall had happened after their trip at Hogwarts and the incident in the Sports shop.

“But she had seemed fine then, “ Mallory said. “She had even given him our spare firework.”

Sam had nodded absentmindedly as she washed her hands in the girl’s bathroom sink and thought about everything that had happened that day, trying to pinpoint if something had happened between the two friends. She had been drying her hands with a towel when she realized what it had been.

“Halfborn told her Conall is friends with the boy that attacked her last year,” she had told Mallory. The redhead’s eyes had grown wide as she understood what her friend was saying was true.

“You can’t really blame Alex if that’s the case,” she had said thoughtfully. “She did find out one of her friends is friends with the boy who had hurt her. She was really shaken up after it. And what if Conall was the other boy that had been there?” Mallory went on. “The one who didn’t do anything to help Alex. That would make it even worse.”

Sam hadn’t known what to say to that other than agree. She could understand why Alex might want to avoid Conall if that’s what had happened and she couldn’t blame her for it. Still, she didn’t like how Conall would come looking for Alex only to be pushed to the side and how being avoided made him look so miserable. It was saddening and, at the very least, if Alex didn’t want to be friends anymore, she felt like she should be upfront and tell Conall.

Talking to Alex about it hadn’t worked out that well. Alex had been just as avoidant of the topic as she was of Conall.

“Say, how come you haven’t worked with Conall in Potions in some time?” Sam had asked one day as casually as she could. Which wasn’t much.

“I don’t know,” Alex said nonchalantly from her place on her bed. She was lying on her stomach with a sketchbook in front of her and she was absentmindedly scratching away at the paper. “It just happened, I guess.”

“Mm, okay. Though, if you had a fight or something, you should probably talk about it,” Sam went on. “You wouldn’t want your friendship to end like this.”

Alex had huffed loudly before slamming her sketchbook shut and getting up from the bed. Her movements were short and sharp, almost snappish. She put on her shoes and she was almost at the door when Sam spoke up.

“Where are you going?”

“To the library,” she snapped. “I need to look for something.”

Alex had almost slammed the door on her way out until she remembered that Sif had nearly inhumanly good hearing and would most probably chew her out if she went around banging doors.

Sam wasn’t the first one to bring up the topic of Conall around her. Pretty much all of her friends had, with the exception of Magnus, but with the Hufflepuff Horror party coming up he was probably too busy to pay attention to Alex’s dramas.

Why didn’t anyone just leave her alone and let her deal with it on her own she didn’t know. This was her issue and she didn’t want others butting in. So what if she had been avoiding Conall? It’s not like they knew how she felt about it. She didn’t even know how she felt about it!

‘It’ being the fact that Conall had been the little sidekick of that dumb Ravenclaw boy that had attacked Alex with a hex last year. The fact that he had been standing right there and sure, maybe he didn’t say anything bad, but he didn’t say anything good either. He just stood there and didn’t help anyone.

A part of Alex was mad that Conall hadn’t said anything. Then again, what was he supposed to say? “Hey, remember me? I’m the bloke who just stood there while one of my friends disfigured your face! I hope we can get along well!” Still, it felt like something worth mentioning to Alex.

Another part of Alex couldn’t quite trust him anymore. With friends like that boy, who was Alex to say Conall would say bad things like that to her? That he wouldn’t hurt her too?

~~~~~~

Instead of last year’s haunted forest theme, this year the Hall of the Slain was decorated like the inside of an ancient Egyptian tomb. The walls were spelled to look like sandstone, or at least the students assumed they were because dressing every wall to look like the inside of a pyramid and have it be this realistic would have been very time-consuming. Either way, the walls not only looked but felt realistic; their color, their texture, it was as if you stepped into one of the great Pharaohs’ tomb.

Pots and vases littered the corners of the room, surrounded by small piles of gold. Games, weapons, everything you would typically find in the resting place of the kings of Egypt was here, right down to the mummified servants. If you were curious enough to open the jars – like Magnus’ group of friends was – you would find that inside them was candy corn, every flavor beans and cranberry juice – if you were lucky. If you were not, you would find wrinkled up organs – long entrails, full stomachs and lungs and blood red hearts. They were all made out of candy, of course; they weren’t going to kill people to throw a party.

“Is that a lung?” Mallory asked appalled as T.J slowly lifted the lid off of one pot. A soft pink mass was swimming inside what Magnus knew was a mix of different red berries’ juice. It gave a stronger red color than the cranberry juice they used instead of wine so it worked better as blood.

“I’m pretty sure this one is the stomach,” Magnus said. Yes, he might have helped with the decorating, but the jars and pots were constantly moved around the room to make sure that no one, not even the Hufflepuff students who had put this up, knew what was in which pot.

“Can we eat it?” Alex asked. Mallory cringed immediately and even Sam and T.J seemed slightly disturbed by the notion of eating something that looked so much like what they had inside their own bodies.

“What?” Alex asked noticing their expressions. “It’s not a real stomach. It’s just candy. Probably.”

Despite the others’ lack of enthusiasm, Alex still ended up taking a large bite of the sugary internal organ. “Taste like cherries,” is what she said.

And, of course, the décor wouldn’t have been complete without sarcophaguses spread around the room. Magnus had seen a group of kids – probably third years from Ravenclaw – walking in dressed as mummies and the joy on their face as they realized they matched this year’s theme was amazing. It was a special moment when you matched the party’s décor by accident – you felt as if you were the Chosen One.

And, in a way, you could say the Table 19 gang fit the theme. After all, their characters had been in Egypt a few times, if Magnus remembered correctly.

Yes, this year the Mystery Inc. idea had passed and the six friends were dressed up as Scooby Doo and his friends.

Mallory was Daphne and she had straightened her hair to look more like the character (Magnus hadn’t missed the way in which Halfborn ogled at her when she walked in). Halfborn was dressed as Freddy and it took them hours to convince him to wear that stupid neck-scarf thing. Sam was Velma and she wore a red hijab that matched the color of the long skirt she was wearing. Magnus made a fairly good Saggy with his long hair and Alex was dressed in a full body suit of Scooby, which Magnus found strangely adorable. (He learned the hard way that he shouldn’t scratch behind Alex’s fake ear while asking “who’s a good girl? Who’s a good girl?” unless he wanted to be stepped on.)

As for T.J, well….

“Why do I have to be Scrabby?” T.J huffed when the met up in a hall close to the Hall of the Slain.

“Because you drew the shortest straw and it sucks to be you,” Alex had answered him without even turning around to look at him.

So now the six friends were having fun going around dressed as the famous Mystery Inc. Alex, in particular, was having way too much fun randomly yelling "Scooby Dooby Doo!”

Magnus was contemplating whether or not he should try eating some chocolate liver when the lights started blinking suddenly and all music stopped. Magnus gasped and, like every other student in the room, moved to the edges of the dance floor to make room for the nights much awaited special guest.

The room was quickly filled with smoke that rolled in thick waves over the floor. The lights kept going on and off, but now they did so in rhythm with the steady beat that was filling up the hall and growing even louder.

Then, in the middle of the dance floor, he appeared- Professor Blitzen. He was wearing a sharp black suit with bones painted on it. Whatever those bones were made out of, they glowed eerily in the low lighting. Makeup had been applied to the Charms' Professor's face so that he looked like a skeleton- a very realistic (and fashionable) one. Powder had been sprayed over his hair to give it this dusty look as if he had just crawled out of the ground.

He snapped his head up sharply and smiled at the crowd of students. Professor Blitzen was known to always have great costumes for Halloween and he had earned himself a reputation for doing amazingly amusing dances every year. Sometimes he danced all on his own and sometimes he pulled random students from the ground and had them dance with him.

He took a few sharp steps backwards and then stiffened completely. He dropped down like he was, well, a bunch of bones. He picked himself up fast and put his arms in his wide, energetic movements too. He spun and did moves worthy of Michael Jackson. It seemed like just another of his solo dances, but then he rushed forward rapidly and pulled Professor Hearthstone out of the crowd.

Murmurs ran through the crowd of students like ripples in water. Professor Blitzen had never done a number with another teacher so seeing him pull the pale Runes Professor forward had everyone looking at the pair intently.

Professor Hearthstone was dressed like Count Dracula, fake fangs poking out under his bottom lip and a long cape flowing down from his shoulders. He stopped in the middle of the dance floor, right opposite of his skeleton-dressed friend. Professor Blitzen looked at the vampire in front of him as if he was daring him to a battle and after a swift nod from Professor Hearthstone, the two were moving again.

They walked around each other in a wide circle, like two tomcats about to fight. Professor Blitz was the first one to move with a series of fast and precise short movements, syncing to the music's beat perfectly. The moment he stopped dancing, Professor Hearth continued. He picked up from where his coworker had stopped with fluid, graceful movements that made the most of his long limbs and fancy cape. Despite being a much different dance style, it somehow still matched the music just as flawlessly as Professor Blitz’ had.

The kept going like that for awhile, switching between the two of them so they each had a chance to dominate the dance floor. The longer they danced, the more elaborate their moves were and everyone was left looking on in awe.

“The sexual tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife, I swear,” Magnus heard Alex say next to him. The girl in the dog onesie next to him was looking on at the two teachers dancing with crossed arms but clearly amused if the smirk on her lips was anything to go by.

“What do you mean?” Magnus asked confused.

“Oh, come on!” Alex huffed. “These two are even more obvious than Mallory and Halfborn! I mean, either they’re together and they can’t keep away from each other or they’re not together and are completely oblivious to the fact the other likes them back!”

Magnus turned his attention back to the dance floor but his mind was still buzzing with what Alex had said. It was true that the two Professors were close, they wouldn’t be running an organization to help Hogwarts students (which basically meant becoming their parents) if they weren’t. Still, Magnus had never thought that the two would be romantically involved, because, well… you didn’t think about your teacher’s love lives! It was kind of bizarre to think of them with lives outside Hogwarts even though he knew they had them.

Now he could deny there was some truth to what Alex had said. They certainly seemed close, that much was granted, and there was definitely something there. They held eye contact more than people normally do outside of a staring contest, they stood closer together and any time Magnus had seen them in the halls they always accidently brushed hands.

Maybe he was just being paranoid…

As if the universe was toying with him, right as Magnus thought that he could have sworn he saw Professor Hearthstone wink.

Did he just wink at him? Merlin’s underpants, did he just wink at him?

As the music rose higher, the two teachers changed their dancing. Instead of dancing separately, they joined together in the middle of the floor as all the lights pooled around them. Both their styles were somehow perfectly combined, Professor Blitzen’s precise and swift movements coupled with Professor Hearthstone’s gracefulness and fluidity.

They stepped forward and backwards, left and right, their steps synchronized in a way Magnus wasn't sure humans were capable of. They swung their legs out and spun each other around, letting the music move their bodies.

At one point, Professor Blitzen spun the vampire out and pulled him back in by his cape, the long fabric wrapping around Professor Hearth's lithe body. Like a spinning top, Professor Hearthstone span back out again, but this time the skeleton- dressed teacher didn't hold onto his cape. It flowed after the pale man and once they were both in the positions they were in when the Runes teacher joined the dance, they bowed deeply to one another as the music died out.

There was a millisecond of complete and utter silence before the entire student body broke out in a deafening applause. The student’s clapping sounded like a freaking thunderstorm and there were wolf-whistles thrown in as well. The two teachers bowed one more time before they gave the floor back to the students.

As one of the most recent hits of the magical world blasted through the room, Alex moved towards the buffet table – she had seen a bowl of eyeballs there she was dying to try. Multiple different colored eyeballs were floating inside the same juice she had found inside the organ jars. She picked a large green one and took it from the bowl with a large spoon propped up against the bowl's side. She held it between her fingers as she bit down, her teeth breaking through the fondant on the outside of the round cake and she found out that the inside was vanilla cake with a center of melted chocolate.

I never thought eyeballs were so tasty.

She was about to go in for another bit when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she came face to face with none other than Conall, a large pirate's hat resting on his head and one of those frilly tie things around his neck.

“Um… Hey, Alex,” he managed to get out nervously. His right hand had come up and it was rubbing the back of his neck nervously, something Alex knew he did when he was nervous. She had seen him do it a lot of times when the Professor asked him a question in Potions. Sometimes, when he didn’t know the answer, Alex would spell it in the air below their desk so he could see it.

The memories made a sharp pang of bitterness in Alex’s heart. A part of her felt guilty for ignoring Conall all this time and acting as though he didn’t exist. Seeing him standing right there reminded her that she had probably hurt him a lot by avoiding him.

“Could we, um… could we talk?” he asked hesitantly. His hands kept fiddling with his clothes and his eyes darted around the room, at the buffet table, at the decoration, at the students dancing. He looked like a child that was nervous to answer his teacher’s question in class.

Alex felt like that too. She opted for the bullshit-your-way-out-of-this response.

“I think my friends are waiting for me somewhere over there, so…” She stepped to the side, ready to run across the Hall of the Slain if she needed to. She was about to move towards where she supposed some of her friends were when Conall grabbed onto the shoulder of her Scooby Doo onesie.

“Please, Alex." His eyes were wide and pleading and Alex cursed his innocent looks. How could he possibly look more like a puppy when she was literary dressed like one? "I swear I won’t take long. I just need to talk with you.”

Alex looked at him hesitantly before sighing and walking to a quite side of the room to talk peacefully. She didn’t quite know why she agreed to talk. Maybe her guilt had caught up to her or maybe she was weak to Conall’s puppy eyes.

“Why are you avoiding me?" Conall asked when they finally found a quiet place next to an organ jar (Alex was pretty sure she had checked this one earlier and it had a gut inside). "Is it something that I did?”

Alex didn’t speak. Now it was her turn to let her eyes dart around the room and she looked everywhere but at the pirate dressed boy in front of her.

“Look, whatever I did that upset you, I’m sorry,” Conall went on. Desperation was evident in the way he stood; his legs were apart, like a boxer in a fighting stance, and his shoulders were hunched up. He posture was slightly slumped forward like a hunchback and he kept turning his arms around, never taking them too far away from his body. “I really want to keep being friends, so please just tell me what I did wrong.”

Alex still wasn’t looking at him. After a few moments –moments which went by agonizingly slow for Conall - she sighed. She hadn’t liked avoiding Conall all this time, they were good friends, and she wanted things to go back to normal just as much as he did.

Maybe I should just stop being a coward and talk.

“One of my friends recognized you as a friend of the boy that attacked me last year and… I remembered you had been the boy with him when he cast a hex on me.”

Conall’s breath hitched and Alex finally looked at him. His eyes were wide with shock, mouth agape and skin paler than usual. His bottom lip trembled and he turned his eyes to the floor in shame.

“Alex, I… I’m sorry, I… Look, I’m really sorry that happened-“

Maybe it was mean of Alex, but she didn't let him finish. The words rushed out of her mouth before she could stop and she didn't consider what the consequences might be – if she would hurt Conall, if she would say something she would regret later.

“You didn’t look sorry then,” she said bluntly. She looked Conall in the eye, and for those first few words, her eyes cut like daggers. Conall didn’t need to be a genius to know he had messed up. He felt like throwing up. “You didn’t do anything. You just stood there while he said horrible things about me.”

Conall looked away in disgrace. He knew Alex was right, he knew she had every right to be mad at him. He couldn’t blame her.

Still, this, his friendship with Alex, was something he didn’t want to lose. He had never had so much fun with someone, he never felt so at ease around a person he wasn’t related to. Alex didn’t mock him about his meek character like other people did, even people who called themselves his friends. Her smile did weird things to him – he didn’t want to think about what that might mean, exactly why he felt as though he would throw up every time Alex laughed (and liked that feeling) - but what he knew was that he wanted to keep being close to her.

Alex sighed and run a hand through her hair under the dog hoodie.” I guess I just… I feel weird, you know. Scared. I like being friends but I don't want to get hurt like that again, and I'm not sure I can trust you. You never even told me it had been you!”

Alex waited for him to answer. The music blared around them and yet Alex didn’t hear it; all her attention was on the pirate boy in front of her that was struggling to find the right words to explain himself.

“I’m sorry, Alex. I know it sounds lame,” You’re right, it does, “but I really am sorry. I should have said something to Dick but I’ve never been good at standing up for myself. I know it’s not an excuse, but -”

“Wait, his name is really dick?” Alex interrupted him. Had his name really been Dick this whole time? And here she thought she was just insulting him every time he popped up in her mind but she had actually been calling him by name!

“It’s short for Richard,” Conall explained simply before continuing his apologizing. “I'm sorry, really. I know I should have told you, but you always looked really cool and fun so I didn't want to ruin my chances of being friends by telling you the moment we met at King's Cross.” At this point, Conall’s hands might as well have had a mind of their own with how much they moved around. He was nervous and he wasn’t quite thinking about what was coming out of his mouth – the only thing he knew was that he wanted Alex to still be his friend (maybe something more, something in the back of his brain said quietly)and he was ready to do anything to make sure she forgave him. “And then I kept telling myself I’ll tell you at the right time but I kept putting it off because the right time never came.”

Somewhere along his speech, he had taken off his pirate hand and was now holding onto it, pulling nervously at the seams and waving it around as he talked. “And I just… I’m sorry. I really hope we can keep being friends.”

Should Alex forgive him? At one hand, she wanted to be bitter. She wanted to walk away and act as if they had never been friends and she wouldn’t miss him if they never spoke to each other again.

But she would and she knew it. She liked being friends, she had said that much already, and she liked talking with him at Potions and sharing horrible jokes. She liked his infectious stupid laugh when she told him a particularly bad joke and how the teacher would call him out on it only to make him laugh more hysterically, even if that resulted in both of them losing a few house points.

“We can try," she said. Conall's head snapped up and his eyes shone with hope. Alex was pretty sure he would have jumped up and down like a five-year-old that got a pony if she hadn't kept talking. "But you need to be honest with me. No more secrets.”

He did a mock salute, a smile so wide on his face you were afraid it made break it apart. “Yes, ma’am!” he said cheerily. He felt his heart do that weird fluttering thing again when Alex smiled at him amused and he pushed down the thought he might still be hiding something from her.

“But seriously, who names their child Dick?” Alex asked randomly. She wanted to break the ice between them and that goddamn name was the first thing to pop into her mind. “Like, do you want other kids to taunt them? What kind of self-fulfilling prophecy is it?”

Conall chuckled. “I don’t know. I haven’t even talked to him in weeks.”

Oh? “How so?”

“We had a fight. He didn’t like I was hanging out with you so much because, you know, he doesn’t like you. He told me we can’t be friends if I’m also your friend.”

Well, I guess there’s a reason his parents named him that. “Seriously? What a dick. What did you do?”

“I got up and went to sit down at a different table.”

Alex’s eyes went wide and she couldn’t contain her laughter. The mere mental image of that happening was enough to make double over. The tail at the butt if her onesie kept moving as her body shook with giggles.

“Seriously?”

Conall nodded, that same huge smile plastered on his face. His whole being seemed to light up and his eyes sparkled with happiness. There was still that slight nervousness in his posture but he looked a lot happier that he was when he approached Alex moments before.

As Alex was calming down from her fits of laughter, her eyes fell on Sam across the room. Mallory and Halfborn were nowhere near them and Sam was making large gestures to beckon her over, though she looked more like she was signaling a plane to land. Alex tilted her head in confusion at her sister’s actions and did a quick “why?” gesture.

Sam threw her head back in exasperation and started dancing around in place like she was a princess dancing with her prince charming. Alex’s eyes widened as she realized what she was trying to tell her. Fuck, I forgot the dance! And this was my plan too! She could understand Sam’s exasperation now.

“Shit,” she said under her breath. There was a questioning noise from Conall and Alex turned to him. “I swear I’m not trying to avoid you, but I need to go find my friends and hook them up.”

Conall seemed more confused than anything, but he wordlessly let her go. Alex rushed to the opposite side of the room to her sister.

“I’m sorry I forgot!” She apologized immediately.

“It’s okay, just go find Halfborn and bring him to the dance floor.”

Alex saluted before running off to find the ox of a boy dressed in a silly scarf around his neck. It wasn't hard, considering how tall the Gryffindor boy was.

“Hey, Halfborn!” She called out. The tall boy turned around, a questioning look on his face, not so much because he didn’t know why Alex was calling him but because he was surprised she hadn’t called him an idiot or something synonymous.

“Let’s go to the dance floor! I bet I can wipe it clean with you face!”

Not much else needed to be said as Halfborn followed her among the dancing students. She saw Sam approaching from the other side with Mallory on toe. If everything went according to plan then any minute now…

“And now, time for couple dancing! Find a partner and hit the dance floor!” The makeshift D.J of the party said. (They didn’t even have a D.J, it was just some kid who liked making announcements, so he made comments using a spell to make his voice louder.)

Perfect.

Alex scanned the dance floor as students who didn’t want to dance in pairs left. She spotted Magnus’ blonde head among the students and grabbed him by the hand.

“Let’s dance!” She said and completely abandoned Halfborn. She saw Sam do the same with Mallory as she went to dance with T.J.

Now to make sure they don’t leave…

“Hey, Halfborn, Mallory! I bet Magnus and I can dance better than you!”

“No, T.J and I will be better!” Sam argued.

Alex could see the challenge affect the two love birds. They were both competitive people and they wouldn’t turn down a challenge.

“Oh, you’re on!” Mallory said as she grabbed Halfborn’s hand so they could start dancing.

They danced as the music played around them. Sam and T.J were dancing from a distance, the way you would see couples dancing at clubs. They moved to the beat, putting their whole bodies into it even if neither of them knew anything about dance (not that Alex did).

Alex and Magnus choose a more over-the-top style. They held hands and they danced like a couple in a Disney movie but much, much more ridiculously. They threw each other around and twirled one another. They laughed so loudly you'd think they were drunk, but they've only drunk juice.

Mallory and Halfborn were nervous at first. She couldn’t be sure because of the lighting, but Alex thought she saw Mallory blush. She wondered if she was remembering a half naked Halfborn from the sport’s shop. They danced with the nervousness of someone who had two feet and had never danced before.

Better do something about that.

“Is that all you got?” Alex asked and twirled Magnus for extra emphasis. The two loved birds glared at her, but her plan had worked out; they were much closer now and they didn’t move just as frigidly.

They kept doing that for the entirety of the next two songs, Alex and Sam taking turns to drill them on and make them dance harder, closer. They were barely a step apart now, limbs moving in synchrony and eyes not leaving each other even when Alex shit-talked them. As cliché as it might sound, it looked like they had forgotten where they were and were completely engrossed in each other.

“Couple time is almost over, so make sure to go out with a bang!” Announcer kid said.

The music build higher and higher. Alex span Magnus outwards and as he came back in, she asked: "Want to French-dip you?"

A quiet ‘Huh?’ left Magnus’ mouth, but Alex didn’t hear it because of the loud music and choose to take his silence as a yes. With all the mastery those dreadful dance lessons her parents had made her attend gave her, Alex dipped Magnus down gracefully like they were playing in a dumb movie. The only difference being that they would be laughing like idiots if they were in a movie.

Halfborn and Mallory opted for a similar move, only theirs ended with them much closer together than Magnus and Alex. As the music died down, then were left panting on the dance floor, their faces bare centimeters from each other.

If I lean in we’ll kiss, they both thought absentmindedly. As the thought registered, a blush crept over their faces and they broke away.

Once more this night, their thoughts were very similar.

He looked so good.

She was so beautiful.

I want to kiss him.

I want to kiss her.

End me.

Fun fact: The idea for a dance number was inspired by one of my math/geometry teachers who goes ALL out every Halloween and always has a dance number too. Once more people, in regards to Conall's little crush, trust me, I know what I'm doing. (Narrator: She did not.)

#magnus chase and the obligatory hogwarts au #magnus chase #alex fierro #gunderkeen #my fic #fanfiction

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